Turns Out Microsoft Chatbots Are, Indeed, a Passing Fad (Userbase Down Sharply)

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2023-07-06 13:21:18 UTC
Modified: 2023-07-06 13:26:51 UTC

ChatGPT wasn't just hype, it was a marketing gimmick only made possible by massively underutilised (unsold) Azure capacity. Don't fall for the idea that ChatGPT was about LLMs. In short, it is about turning empty, money-losing server farms into advertising.

Summary: As we've predicted all along, since the start of this year in fact, ChatGPT was all hype and it is going away; once the inertia is gone there's no comeback foreseen as rumours say the next massive round of Microsoft layoffs starts next week (can Microsoft distract from it?) and there's another downgrade

13 hours ago in Forbes:

Firefox in Trouble in the US, Down to Lowest Level in 20+ Years: more sites will stop or intentionally neglect Firefox support
Clownflare: More Than 1 in 5 Laptops or Desktops in El Salvador Run GNU/Linux or ChromeOS: Clownflare Radar reckons it's more like 20%+ now
Links 20/08/2026: 'Linux' Foundation Promoting Slop Hype for Money (Hype as a Service), Malaysia’s Exports Jump 38% Year-on-Year: Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/08/2026: A "Break From Routine" and "Modem Was the Problem": Links for the day
Clownflare Reckons GNU/Linux is on Almost 1 in 10 Laptops/Desktops in Western Europe: Western Europe and China are leaving more of GAFAM behind them
Looking Ahead at September: Rianne and I look forward to a productive September
Links 20/08/2026: Facebook "Ran Ads for an App That Promised to Nudify Female Politicians" and Facebook Faces "Social [Control] Media Addiction Trial": Links for the day
Clownflare Sees GNU/Linux at 16% Market Share on Desktops/Laptops in Tajikistan: in Tajikistan it seems like adoption of GNU/Linux is exceptionally high, based on a very large data set associated with Web access
The Demise of Social Control Media Continues: Entering (anew) social control media in 2026 seems foolish
SLAPP Censorship - Part 155 Out of 200: Throwing Stones in Houses Made of Glass: character-assassination-as-a-service
Gemini Links 20/08/2026: Planners, Pantsing, Vinylyssee: Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 19, 2026: IRC logs for Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Gemini Links 19/08/2026: "Big Boost in Autonomy" and "Answer of E-Mail": Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 154 Out of 200: Computer-Generated Legal Filings From Men Who Are Salaried by Mass Plagiarism Companies in Another Continent (America): This isn't the behaviour of a moral person but of some sort of "crypto bro" or "slop bro"
Fired by IBM for Medical Leave, Rampant Censorship of IBM Critics Explained: We've already caught and showed many cases where thelayoff.com deleted comments that were not even remotely racist
Links 19/08/2026: First Amendment Under Fire by White House of Cards, "Universities Were Forced to Pay Up" for Not Censoring: Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/08/2026: What Friendship Means, Sm0lNet/SmolNet, and New Feeds: Links for the day
Omarchy is Already Dying: Same as the life cycle of slopfarms
No, WSL (Windows With Fake 'Linux') Isn't Growing Faster Than Ubuntu, This Was Disinformation Spread by a Microsoft Propaganda Site, Then Spread by Slopfarms: Be sceptical; Microsoft is truly desperate for anti-Linux spin right now, seeing that Windows is in a freefall
Microsoft's Mass Layoffs Impact the Ability to Run Microsoft: Can Microsoft still run Microsoft?
Microsoft's Active Directory ("AD") and "Entra" Are National Security Threats: Even the US government concluded Microsoft could not be trusted for security; it issued a formal report about it in April 2024
Instant Impact: GNU/Linux Skyrockets to 10% in China Days After Policy Changes: Let's see what the 'aftermath' looks like by year's end
Links 19/08/2026: Timothy James King (AmigaDOS) Dies, GitHub Goes Offline, Finland Wants to Shun Social Control Media: Links for the day
Slop's Achilles Heel: It Increases the Workload, Not Just Costs: Set aside its inability to scale well
Improving techrights.org: Technical debt (like 17 years with WordPress) is something that's better to address early, not later
Mass Layoffs at Dropbox, Blame the Debt, Not Slop Hype: The debt of Dropbox Inc., which isn't an imaginary (estimated) thing, is over 4 billion dollars
Microsoft is 'Angel of Death' to Developers (Even Its Own), 'Voluntary' Layoffs Happening Again: From what we are hearing and reading, there are 'voluntary' layoffs again
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 18, 2026: IRC logs for Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Gemini Links 19/08/2026: Shirts, Handwriting, and Fights in Geminispace: Links for the day
Laos Leaving GAFAM Behind, Gradually: Yesterday evening it was measured at 10% for GNU/Linux at one point
They Were Wrong All Along: Two women combined won't deliver a healthy baby in just 4.5 months
A "Tech Journalist" Would Not Cover Vote on LLMs as a Sex Issue: For a moment there you have to pause and wonder, is this a "Tech Journalist" or the Daily Stormer?
20,000 by Year's End: The "New Techrights" will have 20,000 pages by year's end
Last Night GNU/Linux Measured at 9% in Africa: Nighttimes in Africa are times when GNU/Linux usage on desktop/laptop devices typically surges, based on Clownflare [...] It changes in favour of GNU/Linux
Gemini Links 18/08/2026: Google Bait and Switch (Getting College People 'Hooked' on 'Cheap' Storage, Then Backups Gone), a "Question of E-mail": Links for the day
Bluesky is in Trouble: Bluesky is a private company (unlike Bluesky Digital Assets Corp. in Toronto, that one runs a pyramid scheme!), so it's hard to know for sure just how much money it is losing
China Says Goodbye to Microsoft: It is hardly surprising that Windows is shedding off userbase all around the world
Links 18/08/2026: US Abandons South Korea, New Legal Disputes Over Slop Plagiarism in the Music Scene: Links for the day
Linux Losing Interest in Users' Freedom, Pursues DRM Instead: "Linux" is (or was, as GNU/Linux) meant to empower - not artificially restrict - the users
GNU/Linux in Ecuador and Colombia: Growing, Still Below International Average: locals turn away from Windows and try GNU/Linux instead
IBM is Dead or Dying. Now It Asks Workers to 'Resign' Voluntarily.: To save face, to pretend no layoffs are happening (as it might alarm shareholders) [...] We keep hearing more and more stories like that
Links 18/08/2026: Sergey Brin Controlling State Policies, "Dario Amodei's (Anthropic) Wife Is Closely Linked to Jeffrey Epstein": Links for the day
SBS News Interviews Daniel Pocock: The locals say this PR stunt (by the bigot, Farage) was a waste of money
Clownflare Sees One in 7 Web Requests in Libya Originating From GNU/Linux: GNU/Linux has taken a (foot)hold there
Openwashing and Manifestos Composed in Private by Dictators With Deliberately Addictive (and Subsidised, Bundled) 'Tech': It's long, so make a cuppa first
SLAPP Censorship - Part 153 Out of 200: Decades of Debt, Weaponising Borrowed Money to Try to Put Their Critics in Debt: they've always had a financial report by now
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 17, 2026: IRC logs for Monday, August 17, 2026
Gemini Links 18/08/2026: Solar Power, Kipple and Impermanence, Catastrophe Ethics: Links for the day

Turns Out Microsoft Chatbots Are, Indeed, a Passing Fad (Userbase Down Sharply)

Recent Techrights' Posts