Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning.

It's good to be with you on this Thursday, August 21st. I'm Julie Morgan.

Microsoft cuts off China, meta hits pause on AI talent, and Fox One goes live.

Microsoft is limiting the access of Chinese companies to its early warning system for cybersecurity

vulnerabilities. This follows speculations of Chinese involvement in hacking attacks against

Microsoft SharePoint servers. If you remember, we told you last month about those hacking attempts after information

leaked from Microsoft's Active Protections Program, including breaches, impacting over 400 organizations.

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company is aware of the potential for this to be abused,

which is why they take steps,

both known and confidential, to prevent misuse. He went on to say that the company continuously

reviews participants and suspends or removes them if they find that they violated their contract,

which includes a prohibition on participating in offensive attacks.

Microsoft explained that this change applies to map participants in countries where they are

required to report discovered vulnerabilities to their government, a policy targeting China,

among others.

Previously, select Chinese security firms were granted early access to technical vulnerability

details and proof of concept code, which can mimic the operation of real malware, which is

helpful for patching, but also potentially useful for a hacker.

Microsoft said several Chinese firms would no longer receive such codes but gave no more specifics about which companies had been restricted.

Meta Platforms has paused hiring in its AI division after a significant hiring spree that brought in over 50 researchers and engineers.

The freeze took effect last week and also bars employees

from an internal transfer. The company has not yet clarified how long the pause will last

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