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Microsoft’s push to become an AI-first company is no longer confined to products and platforms. The organization is now reshaping how employees learn, read, and access information.
Closing its long-running employee library and cancelling a wide range of newspaper, journal, and research subscriptions, Microsoft says the move is not driven by cost-cutting. Instead, it frames the decision as part of a broader shift toward an ‘AI-powered learning experience.’
For employees, this change marks a sharp cultural reset.
For decades, the Microsoft Library functioned as a curated knowledge hub. Employees could borrow business books, consult global research reports, and read major US newspapers.
The library even inspired a long-running campus myth: that its growing collection once caused a building to sink under the weight. While the story is folklore, the shelves and subscriptions were real.
This physical and editorially curated system is now being dismantled.
Starting in late 2025, publishers had been receiving automated notifications from Microsoft’s vendor management team. The emails stated their contracts would not be renewed.
Longstanding partners were caught off guard after the latest move. SNS, which supplied global research reports to Microsoft’s workforce of more than 220,000 employees for over 20 years, was among those dropped. Employees who relied on those reports were informed that access was being ‘turned off.’
Several employees say access to digital publications such as The Information has been removed. Business books can no longer be checked out through the Microsoft Library.
While Microsoft has rotated publishers before, this shift is broader. Entire categories of external reading material are being phased out at once.
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According to The Verge, Microsoft says the discontinued subscriptions are part of its transition to a ‘modern, AI-powered learning experience’ delivered through its internal Skilling Hub.
The platform relies on AI-driven training modules, automated knowledge systems, and personalized learning paths. Microsoft thinks this method is more supportive of employees as they adapt to the rapid technological changes.
By integrating AI on a larger scale across Microsoft Office, Windows, Azure, and its internal processes, Microsoft is also changing the concept of learning.
For most users, removing tablets and newspapers indicated much more than a mere switch of platforms. It not only signaled the end of the era when human beings classified knowledge, but also the opening of a period in which machines would take over that role using algorithms.
