Microsoft Q2 Profits Surge 33 Percent Driven by AI and Cloud

Microsoft profits were up 33 percent year-over-year to $21.9 billion in the quarter ending December 31, its fiscal Q2 for 2024. The quarterly growth was the company’s strongest in more than two years. Executives credited it to excitement about artificial intelligence services and the resulting demand for cloud services including Microsoft Azure. Earlier this month, Microsoft achieved a $2.89 trillion market valuation, overtaking Apple as the world’s most valuable public company, and this week it surged past $3 trillion. Revenue was $62 billion for the quarter, up 18 percent. Continue reading Microsoft Q2 Profits Surge 33 Percent Driven by AI and Cloud

FTC Is Investigating AI Investments by Major Tech Companies

The Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into Big Tech’s artificial intelligence arms race. Specifically, the agency has ordered five companies to provide information under what it calls a “6(b) inquiry,” targeting Amazon and Google’s strategic alliance with Anthropic, and Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI. The scrutiny aims “to build a better internal understanding of these relationships and their impact on the competitive landscape.” In other words, the government does not want another free for all, along the lines of social media’s growth, which saw big players acquire startups competing in the space. Continue reading FTC Is Investigating AI Investments by Major Tech Companies

Microsoft Says Phi-2 Can Outperform Large Language Models

Microsoft is releasing Phi-2, a text-to-text small language model (SLM) that outperforms some LLMs, yet is light enough to run on a mobile device or laptop, according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The 2.7 billion-parameter SLM beat Meta Platforms’ Llama 2 and Mistral 7B from France (each with 7 billion parameters) says Microsoft, emphasizing its complex reasoning and language comprehension are exceptional for a model with less than 13 billion parameters. For now, Microsoft is making it available “for research purposes only” under a custom license. Continue reading Microsoft Says Phi-2 Can Outperform Large Language Models

Altman Reinstated as CEO of OpenAI, Microsoft Joins Board

Sam Altman has wasted no time since being rehired as CEO of OpenAI on November 22, four days after being fired. This week, the 38-year-old leader of one of the most influential artificial intelligence firms outlined his “immediate priorities” and announced a newly constituted “initial board” that includes a non-voting seat for investor Microsoft. The three voting members thus far include former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor as chairman and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers — both newcomers — and sophomore Adam D’Angelo, CEO of Quora. Mira Murati, interim CEO during Altman’s brief absence, returns to her role as CTO. Continue reading Altman Reinstated as CEO of OpenAI, Microsoft Joins Board

In Latest Twist, Sam Altman Is Reinstated as CEO of OpenAI

Just four days after being pushed out by the OpenAI board, Sam Altman will be reinstated as CEO of the company he co-founded. His return as chief executive was announced in a series of online posts. In addition, most of the company’s board members will be replaced. Following Altman’s firing, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had announced Altman would lead a new advanced AI research team to run independently within Microsoft. However, hundreds of OpenAI employees, including co-founder and board member Ilya Sutskever, continued to push for Altman’s return, threatening to quit if he was not reinstated. Continue reading In Latest Twist, Sam Altman Is Reinstated as CEO of OpenAI

Sam Altman Joins Microsoft After Abruptly Ousted by OpenAI

Rumors were running rampant over the weekend as an unanticipated executive shuffle played out at OpenAI. It began on Friday when CEO Sam Altman was pushed out by the OpenAI board. President and co-founder Greg Brockman quickly resigned in solidarity, followed by several top researchers. Reports circulated the following day that investors were pressuring the board into reconsidering its decision, but by Sunday evening, OpenAI announced that former Twitch leader Emmett Shear would serve as the new interim chief. Shortly after, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Altman, Brockman and other OpenAI employees would join Microsoft to lead an advanced AI research unit. Continue reading Sam Altman Joins Microsoft After Abruptly Ousted by OpenAI

Microsoft Rebrands Bing as Copilot, Debuts First Custom AI

Microsoft Ignite 2023 was all about the transformative change of artificial intelligence, and the event was the setting for Bing Chat’s debut as Bing Copilot. The company also introduced three additional Copilot offerings: Copilot for Azure, Copilot for Service and Copilot in Dynamics 365 Guides. The new Copilot Studio gained tools for connecting Copilots in Microsoft 365 apps — including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, the Edge browser and Windows — to third-party data. In addition, the company showcased software for client-configured chatbots, and introduced its first custom designed AI processor, the Maia 100 chip. Continue reading Microsoft Rebrands Bing as Copilot, Debuts First Custom AI

OpenAI Intros GPT-4 Turbo, Creator Chatbots at Dev Confab

Now anyone can make their own GPT chatbot, for fun or productivity — no coding skills necessary — and soon will be able to list it on a marketplace called the GPT Store. This was among the news announcements to come out of OpenAI’s first developer conference — OpenAI DevDay in San Francisco — where a new, lower-priced model called GPT-4 Turbo with 128K context, was unveiled, along with a new Assistants API, GPT-4 Turbo with Vision and the DALL-E 3 API. Now in preview, GPT-4 Turbo “is more capable and has knowledge of world events up to April 2023,” according to OpenAI. Continue reading OpenAI Intros GPT-4 Turbo, Creator Chatbots at Dev Confab

Microsoft Rolls Out 365 Copilot AI for Enterprise Customers

Last week, Microsoft announced its 365 Copilot artificial intelligence Office add-on was being made generally available for purchase. Forrester Research projects that by 2024 nearly 7 million U.S. knowledge workers will use the AI assistant, which integrates with Word, Excel and other Office productivity tools and costs $30 per person per month. According to investment bank Piper Sandler’s forecast, 18 percent of eligible users will use Copilot by 2026, translating to more than $10 billion in revenue by 2026. Microsoft appears to be introducing Copilot in a staggered rollout with its largest enterprise customers first in line. Continue reading Microsoft Rolls Out 365 Copilot AI for Enterprise Customers

Microsoft Unveils Next-Gen Surface Devices, New AI Features

During its Surface and AI event in New York City on Thursday, Microsoft introduced a pair of new Surface laptops and an array of generative AI upgrades to Bing Chat, Windows Copilot and more. Taking center stage in hardware was the company’s more powerful Surface Laptop Studio 2 and the ultra-portable Surface Laptop Go 3. Also unveiled was the Surface Go 4 for Business, the latest miniature version of its Surface Pro tablet, and the company’s large touchscreen Surface Hub, designed for office use. Beginning this month, Microsoft rolls out Copilot — “your everyday AI companion” — in a free Windows 11 update, followed by Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365 this fall. Continue reading Microsoft Unveils Next-Gen Surface Devices, New AI Features

Tech Titans Convene in Washington for First AI Insight Forum

The first U.S. Senate AI Insight Forum was a lively event, with xAI’s Elon Musk calling for a federal department of artificial intelligence while Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg emphasized a need for transparency and Google’s Sundar Pichai stressed AI’s potential to improve the human condition with regard to things like health and energy. The three-hour meeting was organized by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) who said the crash course would address both how AI “enriches our world and opens the door to new prosperity” and how society can “minimize the very real risks.” Continue reading Tech Titans Convene in Washington for First AI Insight Forum

Microsoft Q2 Marks a Quarterly Sales Record of $56.2 Billion

Microsoft Cloud drove record sales and profits for Q2, which saw a year-over-year revenue gain of 8 percent to $56.2 billion for April through June. Net income topped $20 billion, a 20 percent gain that beat analyst expectations and the company’s own estimates. Microsoft Cloud revenue for Q2 was up 21 percent, to $30.3 billion. And the company is beginning to see the results of its investments in artificial intelligence. Q2 is Microsoft’s second record-setting quarter this year, topping the three-month high of $52.9 billion in Q1. The previous profit record was $18.8 billion in Q4 2021. Continue reading Microsoft Q2 Marks a Quarterly Sales Record of $56.2 Billion

Biden Administration Hosts Tech Elite at White House AI Meet

The Biden administration has committed $140 million to create seven new artificial intelligence research hubs, bringing the national total to 25. The announcement coincided with Vice President Kamala Harris’ Thursday meeting with representatives from Alphabet, Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI and new White House guidance on AI development. The developments are part of an effort to curtain security risks associated with AI and ensure that it is implemented responsibly. “The private sector has an ethical, moral and legal responsibility to ensure the safety and security of their products,” Harris said following the meeting, which included a drop-in by President Biden. Continue reading Biden Administration Hosts Tech Elite at White House AI Meet

Microsoft Creating AI Updates for Business Productivity Apps

Microsoft is giving its Office 365 productivity suite an AI update using OpenAI technology, including GPT-4, to power the new Microsoft 365 Copilot, “your copilot for work.” In February, Microsoft generated attention by adding ChatGPT to its Bing search platform, but it says Copilot is a much bigger deal. Combining the power of large language models with data in the Microsoft 365 apps, Copilot promises “more agency” via natural language, a “universal interface.” A new Business Chat feature turns prompts like “update my team on the new product strategy” into a summary of the latest meeting notes, emails and chat threads. Continue reading Microsoft Creating AI Updates for Business Productivity Apps

Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 Copilot Brings AI to Business Apps

On the heels of debuting conversational AI to search, Microsoft is leveraging artificial intelligence in corporate applications that have traditionally been dominated by competitors like Oracle, Salesforce and SAP. Dynamics 365 Copilot is an AI assistant debuting in preview as part of the software giant’s business suite. Based on technology from OpenAI, it is designed to handle tasks including sales, marketing, customer service and supply chain. It can also draft contextual chat and email answers to customer-service queries. Targeting customers and categories for sales pitches and writing product listings for e-commerce are also among its skills. Continue reading Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 Copilot Brings AI to Business Apps