Our AI systems offer users powerful tools and capabilities. However, there may be instances where these systems are used in ways that are unintended or inappropriate. In addition, some users may also engage in fraudulent or abusive activities through our cloud-based and AI services, such as unauthorized account access, payment fraud, or terms of service violations including cryptocurrency mining or launching cyberattacks. While we are committed to detecting and controlling such misuse of our cloud-based and AI services, our efforts may not be effective, and we may incur reputational damage or experience adverse impacts to our business and results of operations.
RISKS RELATING TO THE EVOLUTION OF OUR BUSINESS
We make significant investments in products and services that may not achieve expected returns. We will continue to make significant investments in research, development, and marketing for existing products, services, and technologies, including AI-based products and services. We also invest in the development and acquisition of a variety of hardware for productivity, communication, and entertainment, including PCs, tablets, and gaming devices. Investments in new technology are speculative. Commercial success depends on many factors, including innovation, developer support, and effective distribution and marketing. If customers do not perceive our latest offerings as providing significant new functionality or other value, they may reduce their purchases of new software and hardware products or upgrades, unfavorably affecting revenue. We may not achieve significant revenue from new product, service, and distribution channel investments for several years, if at all. New products and services may not be profitable or may not achieve operating margins as high as we have experienced historically. We may not get engagement in certain features that drive post-sale monetization opportunities. Our data-handling practices across our products and services will continue to be under scrutiny. Perceptions of mismanagement, driven by regulatory activity or negative public reaction to our practices or product experiences, could negatively impact product and feature adoption. Developing new technologies is complex. It can require long development and testing periods. We could experience significant delays in new releases or significant problems in creating new products or services. These factors could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic alliances could have an adverse effect on our business. We expect to continue making acquisitions and entering into joint ventures and strategic alliances as part of our long-term business strategy. For example, in October 2023 we completed our acquisition of Activision Blizzard , Inc. (“Activision Blizzard”). In January 2023 we announced the third phase of our OpenAI strategic partnership. Acquisitions and other transactions and arrangements involve significant challenges and risks, including that they do not advance our business strategy, that we get an unsatisfactory return on our investment, that they raise new compliance-related obligations and challenges, that we have difficulty integrating and retaining new employees, business systems, and technology, that they distract management from our other businesses, or that announced transactions may not be completed. If an arrangement fails to adequately anticipate changing circumstances and interests of a party, it may result in early termination or renegotiation of the arrangement. We also have limited ability to control or influence third parties with whom we have arrangements, which may impact our ability to realize the anticipated benefits. The success of these transactions and arrangements depend in part on our ability to leverage them to enhance our existing products and services or develop compelling new ones, as well as the acquired companies’ ability to meet our policies and processes in areas such as data governance, privacy, digital safety, responsible AI, and cybersecurity. It may take longer than expected to realize the full economic benefits from these transactions and arrangements, such as increased revenue or enhanced efficiencies, or the benefits may ultimately be smaller than we expected, which could cause an impairment of goodwill or intangibles. We have recorded, and may in the future be required to record, a significant charge in our consolidated financial statements during the period in which any impairment of our goodwill or amortizable intangible assets is determined, negatively affecting our results of operations. In addition, an acquisition may be subject to challenge even after it has been completed. These events could adversely affect our business, operations, financial condition, and results of operations.
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PART I