The taxman is coming for Microsoft, and he isn’t kidding around. Following a multiyear audit, the Internal Revenue Service has ordered Microsoft to pay $28.9 billion in additional tax, plus interest and penalties, covering the period from 2004 to 2013. As you might imagine, the company intends to contest the…

Malicious assaults on websites appear to be getting worse. While that’s bad for the victims, it stands to boost companies specializing in cybersecurity. Google, the ubiquitous search engine owned by Alphabet (ticker: GOOGL), said this week that it is coping with one of the largest online attacks ever, seven times…

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell back Thursday, extending declines for a sixth day despite widespread advances seen in other risk-sensitive assets, with gains from a recent bullish trend fizzling out as cryptos returned to familiar trading ranges. The price of Bitcoin has fallen 1.5% over the past 24 hours to…

Birkenstock, the maker of cork-soled sandals, became the latest company this year to stumble in its initial public offering. The stock closed down 11% from its IPO price on Wednesday, its first day of trading. Other big-name listings of late have also had disappointing early performances. Chip maker Arm, the…

Stocks fell Thursday and bond yields rose as headline consumer prices rose in September slightly more than expected.  These stocks made moves Thursday:  Ford (F) was down 2% after the United Auto Workers union called a strike at the auto maker’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville. With nearly 9,000 workers, the…

Shares of Victoria’s Secret & Co. rose after hours on Wednesday after the maker of bras, lingerie and sleepwear said it could lose less than previously thought during the third quarter, as plans to boost growth help it navigate weaker demand for intimate wear. Shares of Victoria’s Secret VSCO, +2.01%…

The richest man in the world is building a super-intelligent AI to understand the true nature of the universe. This is what the project means for investors. Elon Musk held a Twitter Spaces event in early July to reveal X.ai, his newest AI business. X.ai researchers will focus on science,…

The recovery of Amazon.com Inc.’s AWS cloud-computing business is a hot area of stock-market debate nowadays, but one analyst sees a bright picture as he looks past that issue. “Admittedly, we are not able to get investors comfortable on AWS’s near-term growth rate, or the [fourth-quarter operating-income] guide,” MoffettNathanson analyst…

For investors trying to play a gold rush, it’s important to look at who sells the picks and shovels to miners. In the case of the artificial-intelligence revolution, Nvidia Corp. NVDA, +0.30% has established itself as the biggest beneficiary of that gold rush, thanks to its valuable graphics processing units…

While most computer-chip makers over the past decades have touted the benefits of an ever-shrinking product, a well-funded Silicon Valley company has built what it says is the largest and fastest-ever computer chip, dedicated to AI. When the five friends who formed Cerebras Systems Inc. decided to start a company,…