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Topic: Microsoft

Microsoft and G42 described their assurances to the U.S. and UAE governments as a first of its kind agreement to ensure the secure, trusted and responsible development and deployment of AI. (AP) AI 

Microsoft plans to invest $1.5 billion in AI firm G42 for the development of responsible AI

Adriana Marais,

Microsoft has revealed plans to invest $1.5 billion in the UAE’s artificial intelligence company G42, securing a minority stake and a seat on the board. This move aims to strengthen the partnership between the two companies in the competitive landscape of AI technology. The global race for tech dominance has intensified in recent years, with AI emerging as a key focus for companies worldwide. As part of a deal the two companies brokered for the US and UAE governments over security, G42 would use Microsoft cloud services to run its…

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Stay informed and protected. CERT-In's warning highlights the urgent need for heightened cybersecurity measures amidst vulnerabilities found in Microsoft services. (unsplash) News 

Government warns of high-risk for Microsoft services, including Windows- Here’s how to protect yourself

Adriana Marais,

CERT-In has issued a high-risk warning regarding multiple vulnerabilities discovered in various Microsoft services. The vulnerabilities impact a wide range of Microsoft products such as Windows, Office, Developer Tools, Azure services, Bing, System Center, Dynamics, and Exchange Server. CERT-In warns Microsoft users According to CERT-In, the vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to gain additional privileges, disclose information, bypass security restrictions, perform remote code execution attacks, conduct spoofing attacks, or cause denial of service conditions. Essentially, these vulnerabilities can give hackers significant control over affected systems or compromise sensitive data. Specifically,…

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Microsoft hired DeepMind cofounder Suleyman to run its in-house Microsoft AI division. (AP) AI 

Microsoft plans to open AI hub in London, marking a significant victory for UK in competition for AI expertise.

Adriana Marais, ,

Microsoft has revealed its intentions to establish a new artificial intelligence (AI) hub in London, with a primary focus on product development and research. The unit is headed by Mustafa Suleyman, the London-born founder of Google DeepMind who was hired by Microsoft last month. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT As the primary supporter of ChatGPT manufacturer OpenAI, Microsoft is the world’s leading manufacturer of rapidly developing technology. But the race for AI talent has intensified across Europe over the past 18 months. Microsoft may seek to recruit experts from other AI-focused companies…

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Microsoft hired DeepMind cofounder Suleyman to run its in-house Microsoft AI division. (AP) AI 

Microsoft plans to open AI hub in London, marking a significant victory for UK in competition for AI expertise.

Adriana Marais, ,

Microsoft has revealed its intentions to establish a new artificial intelligence (AI) hub in London, with a primary focus on product development and research. The unit is headed by Mustafa Suleyman, the London-born founder of Google DeepMind who was hired by Microsoft last month. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT As the primary supporter of ChatGPT manufacturer OpenAI, Microsoft is the world’s leading manufacturer of rapidly developing technology. But the race for AI talent has intensified across Europe over the past 18 months. Microsoft may seek to recruit experts from other AI-focused companies…

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Microsoft 365's Copilot is getting an upgrade, offering priority access to GPT-4 Turbo and better image generation. (Microsoft ) AI 

Microsoft enhances Copilot with GPT-4 turbo upgrade and improved image generation for business users

Adriana Marais,

Microsoft is introducing a major update to its AI-driven Copilot assistant, giving priority access to the advanced GPT-4 Turbo model for business subscribers. This upgrade is part of the Copilot for Microsoft 365 package, priced at $30 per user per month, enabling users to utilize OpenAI’s newest model on multiple platforms such as the Copilot mobile app, web interface, Windows, and Edge. Priority access improves efficiency With this deployment, Microsoft aims to provide commercial customers with priority access to the GPT-4 Turbo model, ensuring faster and more comprehensive responses. As…

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The AI-powered Xbox chatbot will enhance the user experience by providing quick and effective assistance. (AP) AI 

Details on Microsoft’s new AI chatbot exclusively for Xbox gamers

Adriana Marais,

Microsoft is advancing in AI technology by creating an Xbox AI chatbot that will handle support tasks. This chatbot, known as an “embodied AI character,” is designed to improve the support process for Xbox users by answering questions and managing refunds. Combined with Microsoft’s support documents for the Xbox network and ecosystem, the chatbot can effectively handle a wide range of support topics using natural language processing. This initiative reflects Microsoft’s broader efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into the Xbox platform and services, improving the user experience and simplifying support…

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Microsoft is removing WordPad from Windows 11. Explore the best alternative word processors for your text editing needs. News 

Microsoft is discontinuing Wordpad in Windows 11; Explore 5 top alternatives

Adriana Marais

Microsoft is making changes to its Windows 11 operating system by saying goodbye to certain features, including WordPad. The company has announced that WordPad, the built-in word processor that has been a part of Windows since 1995, will no longer be included in the upcoming Windows 11 24H2 and Windows Server 2025 editions. This change is part of Microsoft’s broader effort to streamline its offerings and optimize the user experience. While the exact reasons for this decision remain unclear, it marks the end of an era for many users who…

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The U.S. House of Representatives has set a strict ban on congressional staffers' use of Microsoft's Copilot generative AI assistant, reports claim. AI 

US Government Office Prohibits Use of Microsoft’s AI Tools Such as Copilot

Adriana Marais

(Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives has placed a strict ban on congressional staffers using Microsoft’s Copilot generative AI assistant, Axios reported on Friday. “The Office of Cybersecurity has deemed Microsoft Copilot a risk to users because House information is at risk of leaking to non-House-approved cloud services,” House Administrative Director Catherine Szpindor said, according to an Axios report. . “We recognize that government users have higher data security requirements, which is why we announced a roadmap for Microsoft AI tools like Copilot to meet the federal government’s security…

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Microsoft and OpenAI join forces for a groundbreaking $100 billion AI data center project called 'Stargate'. (AP) AI 

Microsoft and OpenAI team up for $100 billion AI data center project featuring ‘Stargate’ supercomputer.

Adriana Marais,

Microsoft and OpenAI have joined forces for a groundbreaking data-center endeavor expected to reach a massive $100 billion in costs. At the core of this venture is the creation of a cutting-edge artificial intelligence supercomputer known as “Stargate,” according to sources. According to Tietoraport, which is privy to private discussions about the proposal, Microsoft is expected to lead the financing of this ambitious project. The scale of the investments would reduce existing data centers by a factor of 100, which would represent a paradigm shift in responding to the growing…

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bill Gates were engaged in tête-à-tête where they talked about the rise of AI and asking Gates about his favourite book. News 

PM Narendra Modi Interviews Bill Gates on His Life and Favorite Book

Jim Hendler, , ,

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bill Gates on Friday participated in an interactive chat that was broadcast live online to the public. Prime Minister Modi shared his views on the country’s growth in AI, his thoughts on emerging technology and how AI could help improve people and their skills in the long run. However, the tete-a-tete between Gates and Prime Minister Modi gave us a chance to get more personal information about the Microsoft founder and how he sees technology evolving in the coming years. Gates also talked about his…

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You can ask Copilot to help you expand your message to better achieve your goals. Microsoft says you can even ask it to make you sound like a pirate News 

AI Updates Enhance Microsoft Teams Copilot

Adriana Marais,

Microsoft is improving the functionality of AI-based Copilot in Microsoft Teams by adding new ways to invite an assistant for summaries, meeting discussions and more. Copilot can already summarize Teams sessions, but over the next few months it will combine spoken transcripts and written conversations into one screen, making it easier to keep track of missed meetings. According to the Microsoft 365 blog, the Teams application is getting a lot of updates produced by artificial intelligence. One of the updates is an improved Microsoft Copilot that can summarize your meetings.…

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Intel has developed the hardware with NPU for AI application, while Windows 11 already is getting a big AI boost from Microsoft. AI 

Microsoft and Intel reveal the key requirements for launching AI PCs in 2021

Adriana Marais,

Microsoft and Intel have a big plan to make artificial intelligence computers the next big thing in the industry. AI is everywhere, so why not on your computers, it seems to be the language of these giants. And now, slowly but surely, we’re seeing a sudden spurt of AI-powered computers, led by Intel’s new Core Ultra 7 processor. Microsoft has invested just as much in AI (we already know that), and its PCs are sharing efforts with Windows 11 to get AI boost paired with Intel’s hardware. However, Intel and…

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Microsoft lost Panos Panay to Amazon last year, but Davuluri is expected to seamlessly help the company build new Surface and Windows products. News 

Learn all about Pavan Davuluri, the new Surface and Windows chief at Microsoft who studied at IIT Madras

Adriana Marais, ,

Microsoft has gone through an extensive management overhaul over the past six months. Satya Nadella and Co. have now chosen a new boss to lead the Surface and Windows team, which was left vacant when Panos Panay left for rival Amazon in 2023. The company has tapped one of its senior employees, Pavan Davuluri, to lead the combined team, as reported by The Verge, which has obtained access to an internal memo sharing this update. The memo also points to Microsoft’s decision to merge the Surface and Windows teams, which…

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Microsoft names Mustafa Suleyman chief of consumer AI business, Google in talks to license Gemini AI engine to Apple. Tech giants struggle to capitalize on generative AI, (REUTERS) AI 

Tech giants Microsoft, Apple, and Google seek artificial intelligence assistance in recent deals and talks

Adriana Marais, , ,

Earlier this week, Mustafa Suleyman, an artificial intelligence pioneer, was appointed as the head of Microsoft Corp.’s consumer AI division. Additionally, Microsoft hired the majority of the team from Suleyman’s Inflection AI startup. Just a day prior, Bloomberg revealed that Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., was discussing the possibility of licensing its Gemini AI engine to Apple Inc. The moves suggest that while billions of dollars are being poured into partnerships, investments and product development, Microsoft and Google are struggling to figure out how to harness generative AI. Neither…

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Sam Altman is busy these days shaping the next phase of OpenAI but he could have easily been leading Microsoft's AI team if things had gone the other way. News 

Sam Altman Breaks Silence on OpenAI Board Controversy: Here’s His Response

Adarsh V.K, ,

Sam Altman is back at the helm of OpenAI and managed to get new people to join its board. However, Altman has been through a lot these past few months, and it’s not just the knuckle-fighting between him and Elon Musk. As you may recall, Altman was fired by OpenAI, prompting Microsoft’s Satya Nadella to hire him to lead a new AI research group at the company. However, things did not end there. Altman somehow managed to find love from his colleagues at OpenAI, who sent the company a written…

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Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman leaves his role at Inflection AI and joins Satya Nadella at Microsoft. (AFP) AI 

Former Google DeepMind co-founder joins Microsoft to lead AI products such as Copilot and Bing

Adriana Marais, , ,

Microsoft has scored a major victory by appointing Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman as the new CEO of Microsoft AI. This move is expected to enhance the company’s AI capabilities and expand its reach in the field. Suleyman will oversee consumer AI products like Copilot, Bing, and Edge, as well as lead research efforts. Google DeepMind founder joins Microsoft In 2010, Mustafa Suleyman founded the artificial intelligence technology company DeepMind, which was later acquired by Google in 2014. He was involved in several projects until 2019, when he was promoted…

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Microsoft has become a big player in the AI space with OpenAI and Nadella is happy that his decision to partner has paid dividends. AI 

Nadella Reveals Microsoft’s Reason for Partnering with OpenAI for Major AI Initiative

Adriana Marais,

Microsoft has a solid lead in the AI race thanks to its partnership with OpenAI, which has allowed the company to use the latest versions of ChatGPT before others get to test. OpenAI has gone through big changes in a short time, but Sam Altman continues to lead the team along with Greg Brockman and others. However, we never learned why Satya Nadella’s Microsoft decided to partner with OpenAI and what qualities appealed to Nadella about the AI giant? The Microsoft chief has been outspoken lately, and in one of…

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Check out the new Microsoft image-to-GIF converter, Pix2Gif. (AP) News 

Learn how Microsoft’s new AI-powered tool, Pix2Gif, converts images to GIFs

Adriana Marais

Microsoft has been enhancing its AI capabilities for Copilot and other Windows apps. The research division has introduced a new AI model called Pix2Gif, which can transform still images into GIFs using an image translation technique. This allows users to quickly create funny and creative GIFs from their photos. The model also includes textual descriptions to provide prompts for the images. What is Pix2Gif Pix2Gif is a motion-controlled diffusion model that can convert images into GIFs. The tool not only captures information from the image, but also brings movement using…

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Google has been a leader in search which has given it hordes of data to train the AI model but the reality is different with Microsoft pulling away. AI 

Here’s why Microsoft’s Satya Nadella is surprised that Google is not leading the global AI race

Adriana Marais, , , ,

Microsoft has become a household name in the AI world thanks to its partnership with OpenAI. But the company believes that other companies have a better chance of leading the market. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says he can’t believe Google isn’t leading the AI race, especially with all the tools and resources at its disposal. In fact, Nadella was quoted as saying on the podcast that Google should have been the default winner. Why would he say that, especially when his company is way ahead of the California-based giant? Nadella…

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