STOCKHOLM—Verizon Communications on Thursday signed a deal with Alphabet Inc.’s Google Cloud to use its 5G network and the tech firm’s computing power to offer services such as autonomous robots and smart factories. Telecom companies have been partnering with technology firms to automate businesses and factories to lower costs and speed up data traffic through…

Thousands of websites experienced outages as a Google Cloud confirmed a technical issue, which affected major services including Snapchat, Spotify, Discord, and more on Tuesday. But as of 2 p.m. ET, Snapchat, Spotify, and Discord appeared to be coming back online. According to a bulletin posted by Google at around 1 p.m. ET, “We are experiencing…

Microsoft Corp., on Tuesday forecast a strong end to the calendar year thanks to its booming cloud business but said supply chain woes will continue to dog key units such as those producing its Surface laptops and Xbox gaming consoles. The company beat Wall Street expectations for its first quarter ended Sept. 30, with pandemic-induced…