Bass to take on AI beat, Ford to cover Microsoft for Bloomberg

Sarah Frier and Jillian Ward of Bloomberg News sent out the following on Thursday:

The biggest technology companies, from Apple to OpenAI, are spending tens of billions on artificial intelligence infrastructure, engaging in a high-stakes race to build data centers, supply them with the right chips, and support the next wave of innovation. These investment shifts have catapulted semiconductor makers into the ranks of the world’s largest companies, and generative AI is giving computer makers the chance to reimagine how they design and manufacture machines. We’ve decided it’s time for a reporter to focus specifically on those efforts, and on what could stand in their way — politically, technologically and financially.

Dina Bass, after more than two decades covering Microsoft, will take on the new AI infrastructure beat, chronicling major investments and geopolitical tensions while scooping developments at key hardware suppliers, including Broadcom, Cisco and Dell. She will work closely with Ian King and Nick Turner, as well as the AI and Big Tech reporters, while remaining on Sarah Frier’s team.

Dina’s career covering Microsoft has been legendary. She started in 1999, during the dot-com boom, and her first executive interview was with a vice president named Satya Nadella. Fifteen years later, she would break the news of him becoming CEO. She scooped the software giant paying $70 billion for Activision, and later was first to report that the FTC would challenge it. More recently, she produced the definitive oral history of Xbox. Dina has already been guiding readers in the direction of her new beat, with recent bylines on great inside stories about AI chip efforts at Big Tech companies, the plans for Stargate, how AI consumes data center energy, and more.

Brody Ford, who has distinguished our coverage on the enterprise technology beat with some of our team’s most-read scoops and features, will add Microsoft to his responsibilities, collaborating closely with Matt Day at a critical time for the world’s third-most-valuable company. He’s already proved he has deep inside knowledge of Microsoft’s competitors, including Oracle, Salesforce, Adobe and Databricks, which he will continue to cover. Brody will start to work more with Robin Ajello, who oversees our Microsoft coverage, while Andrew Pollack will continue to run point on the rest of the enterprise technology beat.

We’re very excited to see what Dina and Brody do with their new beats. Please join us in congratulating them!