Microsoft Pledges To Pay Its Own Way

Welcome to the Tech Brew ride home for Tuesday, 01/13/2026. I'm Brian McCullough. Today, Microsoft tries to calm data center build out backlash. Layoffs come to the metaverse. Apple has a new creator subscription package. More implications from that Apple slash Google AI deal from yesterday and is co work for Claude, the personal AI agent we've been waiting for. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. Attackers don't even need exploits when they can use your allowed tools against you. That's why ThreatLocker enforces default deny at execution, stopping unknown software scripts and ransomware the moment it tries to run. No signatures, no guesswork, just control. ThreatLocker takes zero trust from theory to practice by blocking any unauthorized application or behavior from ever running in the first place. Generative AI has lowered the barrier to malware creation, so ThreatLocker prevents AI generated polymorphic and file less attacks by shutting down unknown behavior automatically even if it's never been seen in the wild. Threat Locker gives you tight control without the noise, meaning fewer alerts and a cleaner predictable operational posture. Learn more at threatlocker.com/techbrewridehome. That's threatlocker.com/techbrewridehome. Microsoft has announced it is changing its data center approach, pledging to pay its own power costs, reject tax breaks, and replenish more water than it uses going forward amid the growing local opposition to data center build outs that we've discussed recently, quoting GeekWire. The new plan announced Tuesday morning in Washington DC includes pledges to pay the company's full power costs, reject local property tax breaks, replenish more water than it uses, train local workers, and invest in AI education and community programs. This sector worked one way in the past and needs to work in some different ways going forward, said Brad Smith, Microsoft's president and vice chair, in an interview with GeekWire. He later described the shift as both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. President Trump made headlines Monday night with a truth social post in advance of the news saying his administration has been working with tech companies, quote, to secure their commitment to the American people. He called Microsoft, quote, first up and said it would, quote, make major changes to ensure that Americans don't pick up the tab for their power consumption, end quote. This new initiative by Microsoft comes at a critical juncture for tech. Amazon, Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, and others are betting hundreds of billions of dollars on AI, but those ambitions hinge on their ability to build out the infrastructure to support them, a prospect that depends increasingly on the cooperation of local communities that have grown skeptical of the costs and trade offs. Smith said Microsoft has been developing its initiative since September. He described it as a response to shifting public sentiment, which he witnessed firsthand during visits to his home state of Wisconsin for Microsoft data center expansion. Back in 2024, local residents wanted to talk about jobs. By last October, …