Microsoft acquires conversational AI company XOXCO

Microsoft has announced the acquisition of Texas-based conversational AI firm XOXCO to amplify the company’s work in the field. XOXCO have been in operation since 2013 and gained renown for creating Howdy, the first commercially available bot for Slack. Microsoft believes that bots will become a key way that businesses engage with employees and customers. The company has undertaken many projects with the aim of unlocking their potential, to various success. Tay, for example, has...

16 November 2018 | Bots

Microsoft believes the UK can be a ‘game changer’ for AI

A new report from Microsoft claims the UK has the right mix of ingredients to be a clear ‘game changer’ for the AI industry. The UK has established itself as a leader in AI with its renowned universities generating talent and spurring internationally recognised companies such as DeepMind, which was acquired by Google for £400 million. In the report, Microsoft wrote:

“The UK’s mix of start-up culture, renowned academic research capabilities, and...

1 November 2018 | Government

Microsoft announces AI-powered OneDrive and SharePoint features

Microsoft is bolstering OneDrive and SharePoint with new AI capabilities to stand out from the competition, including searchable video transcripts. According to a report by CloudRail last year, OneDrive is lagging in popularity behind Dropbox and Google Drive by a substantial margin. The company will be hoping its new features help to close the gap. Omar Shahine, Partner Director of Program Management for OneDrive and SharePoint, said:

“We are announcing...

29 August 2018 | Enterprise

E3 2018: Xbox FastStart uses machine learning to get into content faster

During its E3 2018 presentation, Xbox announced it's taking advantage of Microsoft’s machine learning expertise for its FastStart feature. FastStart learns how gamers play and what files are needed to be downloaded first. Microsoft claims this can half the time it takes for a user to get into their new content — if it previously took 30 minutes to download and play, it will now take just 15 minutes. Xbox has long had a similar ‘Ready to Start’ system where games can be played...

11 June 2018 | Gaming

Watch out Google Duplex, Microsoft also has a chatty AI

Not content with being outdone by Google’s impressive (yet creepy) Duplex demo, Microsoft has shown it also has an AI capable of making human-like phone calls. The company first launched its XiaoIce project back in August 2017. In April, Microsoft said it had achieved full duplexing — the ability to speak and listen at the same time, similar to humans. Microsoft’s announcement was made before Google’s demonstration earlier this month but, unlike Google, the company had nothing to show...

23 May 2018 | Bots

Microsoft dropped some potential deals over AI ethical concerns

According to a director at Microsoft Research Labs, the company has dropped some potential deals with customers over ethical concerns their AI technology may be misused. Speaking at the Carnegie Mellon University – K&L Gates Conference on Ethics and AI in Pittsburgh, Eric Horvitz made the revelation. He says the group at Microsoft looking into possible misuse on a case-by-case basis is the Aether Committee (“Aether” stands for AI and Ethics in Engineering and...

10 April 2018 | Ethics

Microsoft’s AI can translate Chinese on parity with a human

Microsoft believes its AI is able to translate Chinese as well as a human translator. The company says the development represents a “major milestone” and was achieved by regularly feeding the AI with news stories often used across the AI industry for testing purposes. Microsoft claims its AI translated the articles to the same level as two human bilingual translators. The researchers aimed to replicate the ‘trial and error’ approach to how humans learn. With this in mind, the AI...

16 March 2018 | Machine Learning

Emtech China: Warnings of AI causing job losses continue

This year’s EmTech China conference in Beijing was filled with exciting insights at where AI is heading, but it also carried the usual warnings of potential job losses. The three-day event is organised by MIT Technology Review and features some of the world’s most talented experts. In the past, we’ve heard from the likes of Elon Musk saying AI will mean a ‘universal basic income’ will become necessary as more jobs become automated. Others counter this argument by claiming AI...

29 January 2018 | Government

Opinion: Microsoft now considers AI a top priority – and it’s about time

Microsoft should be a pioneer alongside Google when it comes to artificial intelligence, but the company only now appears to consider it a priority. In the company's annual report for the 2017 fiscal year, AI is now mentioned on six occasions. Compared to not a single mention in the previous report, it’s clear Microsoft is now putting more of its focus on artificial intelligence. Microsoft also indicates this in their corporate vision statement: "Our strategic vision is to compete and...

4 August 2017 | Developers