"The software company has amassed “one of the largest armies of corporate diplomats that we’ve ever seen”, said Manas Chawla, a researcher who has studied the company. “They include policy officials working on everything from how to regulate artificial intelligence to protecting elections and tackling cyberwarfare against sovereign states,” he said."

"The UN efforts are part of an operation under Smith that costs more than $1bn a year to run, according to people familiar with the company. The groups inside Microsoft reporting to him include legal, corporate and government affairs, accounting for what Microsoft describes as around 2,000 “professionals”. His organisation also includes a digital crimes unit and teams working on identifying cyber attacks and misinformation campaigns."