Meta and Microsoft results, Figma's successful IPO: This week's news roundup

With AI investment behind the impressive results from Microsoft and Meta, a successful IPO from Figma, and adult content in the Online Safety Act, here’s the news that caught our attention this week.

Successful IPO gives Figma $19 billion valuation

Collaborative tools designer Figma had its initial public offering this week, with the company IPO share price set at $33 a share, valuing the company at over $19 billion. It’s the largest US venture-backed tech IPO since 2021, both in terms of capital raised and implied valuation, and was highly oversubscribed. Market watchers are hailing it as a sign that confidence is returning to the IPO market as a means of raising money and market validation, after years of stagnation.

Meta and Microsoft results show the power of AI

Impressive financial results from Meta and Microsoft serve to showcase both the power and price of doubling down on artificial intelligence.

Meta’s results show Q2 revenues up 22% year-on-year to $47.5 billion, with active users up 6% to 3.5 billion. Advertising accounts for nearly all of Meta’s revenues, and AI enhancements improved ad conversion by 5% on Facebook and 3% on Instagram. Meta’s capital expenditure expectations have been raised to between $66 and $72 billion this year, and the company said it expects “another year of similarly significant capital expenditures dollar growth in 2026 as we continue aggressively pursuing opportunities to bring additional capacity online to meet the needs of our artificial intelligence efforts and business operations”.

Microsoft reported Q4 revenues of $76.4 billion, with its Azure cloud business revenues showing robust growth. AI tools, including Copilot, reached 100 million users in FY2025, and Microsoft’s capex guidance was raised to $30 billion for the next quarter to fund AI infrastructure scaling and implying continued significant investment throughout 2026.

Ultimately, the results from both companies underline that the AI era is here, and it’s expensive. Their confidence in AI’s ability to drive engagement, product innovation, and monetisation is translating into aggressive upfront investment. And investors like it – Microsoft’s share price jumped by about 10% after its Q2 results announcement while Microsoft share price jumped by about 8% on its Q4 results.

Online Safety Act adult content rules go live

The adult content rules of the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) launched this week, following the enforcement of illegal content rules in March. It means that platforms hosting adult content now need "highly effective" age-check systems, such as government ID verification, facial age-estimation AI, bank verification or digital identity wallets. As a consequence, VPN providers saw a surge in uptake, with a 1400% increase reported for Proton VPN in particular, so that it’s now become the UK’s most downloaded free app, overtaking ChatGPT. Media regular Ofcom has already launched probes into 34 adult sites for compliance failures.

More broadly, the Online Safety Act sets a global precedent in online platform accountability, and is especially aimed at safeguarding children. Its supporters have welcomed it as a bold move, while critics have raised concerns about privacy violations and the erosion of free speech.

MS and OpenAI shift emphasis with Copilot and Study modes

Microsoft has launched Copilot Mode on its Edge browser, calling it “a new way to browse the web”. The company says that Copilot Mode delivers a number of innovative AI features in the browser – it doesn’t wait for you to click but anticipates what you might want to do and “works with you as a collaborator”. It remembers past interactions and user preferences, and can autonomously complete multi-step tasks.

OpenAI is launching a study mode for ChatGPT. Aimed at students, it’s part of the company’s push to get its AI tools embedded in the education sector – we reported on OpenAI’s education initiative in Estonia earlier this year. Study mode is pitched as an AI tutor because it changes how students interact with AI by withholding answers, responding instead with questioning and step-by-step guidance. The company says: “When students engage with study mode, they’re met with guiding questions that calibrate responses to their objective and skill level to help them build deeper understanding. Study mode is designed to be engaging and interactive, and to help students learn something -not just finish something.”