Microsoft Shuts Down Employee Library and News Access, Pushes Staff Toward AI Learning

Microsoft Shuts Down Library, Replaces It With AI

Does Microsoft hate books more, or its own workers? It's hard to say, because The Verge reports that the multitrillion dollar giant is gutting its employee library and cutting down on digital subscriptions in favor of pursuing what's internally described as an "AI-powered learning experience" -- whatever in Clippy's name that's supposed to mean. Seriously, we wish we could explain to you what the hell that is, but most of the details on this AI-focused transition are maddeningly vague. What we do know, according to the reporting, is that the cheapskates upstairs are ending employee subscriptions to news outlets, including to the Strategic News Service, which has provided global reports to Microsoft's workforce for more than 20 years. On top of that, not only do Microsoft employees tell The Verge that they've lost access to publications like The Information, but they're also unable to digitally check out business books from the Microsoft Library, which itself is being targeted by the new AI pivot. According to an internal Microsoft FAQ, the library housed in Building 92 has been "closed as part of Microsoft's move toward a more modern, connected learning experience through the Skilling Hub." "We know this change affects a space many people valued," the company said. Meanwhile, employee subscriptions aren't being renewed for pretty much the same reason: because it's a "part of Microsoft's shift to a more modern, AI-powered learning experience through the Skilling Hub." All told, the cuts are yet another example of how Microsoft has gone completely bonkers for AI. Urban legend at the company says that Microsoft's Library, when it was housed in its old location on the second floor of Building 4, was so heavy that it caused the building to sink. That was probably a myth, but now it sounds like Microsoft is happy to let this trove of knowledge, if not literally sink into the Earth, fall by the wayside on the altar of AI. An executive from SNS, the news organization that worked with Microsoft for over two decades but is now being cut off, absolutely roasted its former customer for the changes. "Technology's future is shaped by flows of power, money, innovation, and people -- none of which are predictable based on LLMs' probabilistic regurgitation of old information," Berit Anderson, chief operating officer of SNS, told The Verge. "We look forward to welcoming Microsoft back into the SNS community whenever they decide they would like to return."

Microsoft Boldly Asks 'Who Needs A Library When You've Got AI?'

The $3.4 trillion company is ditching one of learning's most time-honored institutions Last year, Microsoft committed over $100 billion of new investment toward AI. Part of that technological arms race has included training LLMs on millions of books, including some written 600 years ago. This year, Microsoft is paying back the favor by ditching its own employee library. The Verge reports that the company is closing it down and slashing news subscriptions in favor of "AI-powered learning experiences." The onsite collection of books was allegedly so heavy, it once was blamed for cracking the underground parking lot pillars that supported it. That library, now housed in building 92, will now be closed, according to The Verge. The company's roughly 220,000 employees have also reportedly lost access to checking out digital copies of business books and accessing news publications like The Information. Instead of learning about the world through the considered words of other human beings, they will now be engaging with a "more modern, AI-powered learning experience through the Skilling Hub," according to an FAQ sent to staff. “The Library closed as part of Microsoft’s move toward a more modern, connected learning experience through the Skilling Hub,†it reads. “We know this change affects a space many people valued.†Contrast that with what Microsoft recently said after it was revealed that UK police had relied on an AI hallucination when making the controversial decision to ban fans from a certain soccer match. "Copilot combines information from multiple web sources into a single response with linked citations," a spokesperson for the company told media outlets. "It informs users they are interacting with an AI system and encourages them to review the sources." Remember, it's not slop, it's a "bicycle for the mind." It's unclear if Copilot will be the basis for these new "AI learning experiences" that employees are now being encouraged to utilize, or what other sources of information they will use to review them now that the library is shutting down. As the science fiction writer Ray Bradbury once told the Seattle Times in Microsoft's own backyard, "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them."

Microsoft trims libraries and news access in major AI push: What we know so far

The changes follow mass layoffs and come as Microsoft's leadership pushes aggressively toward an AI-first future. Microsoft has been among the big tech companies which is pushing AI adoption. The company has laid off employees, adopted AI automation technologies and is now reducing access to news subscriptions and library resources for its employees as a next step towards AI focused learning. This comes after the company's mass layoffs last year's mass layoffs, which affected 15,000 employees. Internal communications seen by The Verge shows that Microsoft has started to notify publishers in November 2025 that existing contracts for news and research services, including long standing partnerships like Strategic News Service (SNS), will not be renewed. SNS has provided global reports to Microsoft employees for over two decades. Employees report that access to publications such as The Information and other business news services has been reduced, as has the physical library on Microsoft's Redmond campus. According to company communications, the changes are part of a push to provide a "modern, AI-powered learning experience" via its Skilling Hub platform. Also read: Google confirms plans to let users switch Gmail addresses while keeping the same account Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is overseeing the transition, which reportedly includes senior executives who have been asked to embrace the AI-focused strategy or leave the company. The fate of the former library space has not been revealed. In the meantime, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman predicts that within five years, everyone will have a deeply personal AI companion that can see, hear and understand life along with the user. He says such AI will act as constant assistant or friend, though the claim has spared mixed reactions online. "In five years' time, everybody will have their own AI companion who knows them so intimately and so personally that they will come to live life alongside you," the CEO said.