Microsoft held its 50th birthday party last week, celebrating the company’s birth in 1975 with copious cake and nostalgia.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman appeared onstage, with former CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer making guest appearances.
Employee protesters appeared twice during the event, shouting accusations of genocide and hypocrisy and accusing Microsoft of being complicit in the death and destruction in Gaza.
The protesters were both edited out of Microsoft’s official video, but Suleyman thanked them repeatedly for their views.
Ballmer’s appearance was the highlight of the event, and he led a “50 more” chant that brought the house down.
Gates, Ballmer, and Nadella were interviewed together for the first time in over 10 years.
Two new Microsoft features were announced: a new Windows 11 Start menu design and a special 50th anniversary Surface Laptop.
Microsoft also showed off several new Copilot features for AI coding, and an AI-generated version of Quake II.
There were several smaller announcements, including a new Xbox showcase event, updated Office icons, and more.