July 12, 2017
Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming the next major battlefield between Silicon Valley's biggest tech companies. Microsoft announces a rallying of the troops.
On Wednesday morning, Microsoft launched the Microsoft Research AI, a dedicated unit within its global Microsoft Research division that will focus exclusively on how to make the company's software smarter, now and in the future.
Microsoft has long employed a veritable army of AI experts, who have contributed their expertise to products and services including Microsoft Translator, the Microsoft Cortana digital assistant, and even the infamous rogue Tay chatbot.
The difference now, according to Microsoft Research Labs director Eric Horvitz, is that this new organization will bring roughly 100 of those experts under one figurative roof. By bringing them together, Horvitz says, Microsoft's AI team can do more, faster, he says.