Farewell, Skype: Microsoft Calls Time on the Iconic App

by News Editor

May 5, 2025

Everything good comes to an end. As of May 5, Microsoft has ended support for Skype, nearly 15 years after acquiring the European VoIP provider from eBay for $8.5 billion.

Key Facts

Jeff Teper, President of Collaborative Apps and Platforms at Microsoft, announced the decision to cease the service, aiming to optimize user communication products.
Once a pioneering platform for HD voice and video calls, Skype was an early leader in online communication.
Skype, initially developed by Skype Technologies, was acquired by eBay in 2005.
Despite surpassing 400 million users in 2008, Skype began losing its competitive edge.
In 2011, Microsoft acquired Skype for $8.5 billion, paving the way for the app’s current scenario.
Ending support for Skype has sparked nostalgia among its extensive user base.

What You Should Know and Microsoft’s Reason

Skype was once a premier VoIP service for global connections, allowing both free and paid communication. As Microsoft shifts focus to Microsoft Teams, Skype’s user experience and features will be incorporated into this modern hub.

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Microsoft Teams, which has seen significant user growth, will now carry forward Skype’s legacy features, offering enhanced capabilities.

What Happens to Your Skype Account?

All Skype contacts and chats will seamlessly migrate to the free version of Microsoft Teams. Active subscriptions and credits remain usable through Skype Dial Pad, accessible via the web or Teams.

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Mirendil Signs $100 Million Google Cloud Deal To Advance Self-Improving AI

by News Editor

August 6, 2026

AI startup Mirendil has signed a multi-year agreement worth more than $100 million with Google Cloud to secure computing infrastructure for its self-improving AI research.

The partnership reflects growing competition among AI companies to lock in access to high-performance computing, while cloud providers race to attract promising startups developing next-generation AI models.

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Backing The Next Stage Of AI Research

Mirendil plans to use Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), Nvidia GPUs and managed training infrastructure to develop AI systems capable of improving their own performance over time.

Known as recursive self-improvement, the concept focuses on building AI that can refine its knowledge and capabilities with minimal human intervention. The technology is attracting growing interest across the industry, with several startups and leading AI labs exploring similar approaches.

According to co-founder and Chief Executive Behnam Neyshabur, the long-term goal is to develop AI that can automate scientific research and accelerate discoveries in fields such as medicine, biology and materials science.

Compute Capacity Becomes A Strategic Asset

Training increasingly advanced AI models requires enormous computing resources, making long-term infrastructure agreements a critical competitive advantage.

Mirendil said Google’s combination of TPUs and GPUs allows workloads to be matched with the most suitable hardware, improving efficiency while reducing costs for customers.

For Google Cloud, the agreement strengthens its position in the race to provide infrastructure for frontier AI developers, while giving the company exposure to one of the industry’s emerging approaches to next-generation artificial intelligence.

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