News from the AI & ML world
DeeperML - #azure
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Kailyn Sylvester@Microsoft Security Blog
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Microsoft is actively enhancing its AI integration across Azure and Copilot, introducing new features and programs to support both enterprise security and AI innovation. The company is now offering the "Llama 4 herd" within Azure AI Foundry and Azure Databricks, providing users with more AI tools and resources. Simultaneously, Microsoft is working to improve Copilot's capabilities by integrating enhanced security measures and features designed to facilitate AI adoption within organizations. These advancements reflect Microsoft's commitment to making AI more accessible and secure for its users.
Microsoft is also working with external partners to foster AI development. Microsoft Hong Kong has collaborated with Cyberport to launch the "Cyberport x Microsoft AI Partnership Programme," aimed at nurturing local start-ups. This program provides benefits like solution support, expert guidance, and business matching opportunities to promising Hong Kong-based companies. Six companies were selected to participate, showcasing innovative AI solutions in healthcare, insurance, risk management, and corporate sustainability. In addition to external partnerships, Microsoft is focused on internal security enhancements related to AI. Microsoft Copilot utilizes classification labels as part of Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) to safeguard sensitive information, ensuring data security and regulatory compliance. These labels, applied manually, automatically, or suggested by Copilot, categorize data based on sensitivity levels, such as public, internal, or confidential. Furthermore, Microsoft is hosting a "Tech Accelerator: Azure Security and AI Adoption" event on April 22, 2025, designed to equip developers and cloud architects with the essential guidance and resources needed to securely plan, build, manage, and optimize their Azure deployments and AI projects. Recommended read:
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Jon Swartz@Techstrong.ai
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Microsoft is making significant moves in both artificial intelligence and communication platforms. The company recently unveiled new AI models capable of processing text, images, and speech with greater efficiency. These models are designed to empower developers by integrating multimodal capabilities. Microsoft is also pushing back against AI chip export restrictions. Brad Smith has voiced concerns that current regulations could hinder U.S. leadership in AI and drive business to Chinese vendors by creating insufficient supply of American AI technology for key allies.
Microsoft is discontinuing Skype after over 20 years and plans to direct its users to Microsoft Teams, its flagship communications platform. The official shutdown is scheduled for May 5th. The company will sync Skype accounts to Teams, enabling users to log in using their Skype credentials, and plans to roll out the integration to the rest of the Skype installed base in the coming days. Microsoft is looking to prioritize the more popular communications product. Recommended read:
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@news.microsoft.com
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References:
techstrong.ai
, Source
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Microsoft is making significant strides in accelerating AI transformation across various sectors. A new partnership with WSP aims to revolutionize the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry through digital and AI advancements. This collaboration designates WSP as a preferred Microsoft partner for engineering and science consultancy, while Microsoft becomes WSP's preferred partner for digital and AI transformation services. The companies plan to co-develop innovative solutions to address pressing challenges and foster a brighter future for communities worldwide.
Microsoft Research is also teaming up with Physics Wallah to enhance AI-based tutoring for students in India. By developing new algorithms and techniques, they aim to make tutoring services more accurate, reliable, and affordable. This collaboration seeks to overcome barriers such as limited resources, geographical constraints, and economic factors that hinder access to quality education for many Indian students, particularly in remote or low-income areas. The goal is to provide high-quality, accessible education to every student, regardless of their background or location. Microsoft is also investing heavily in AI and cloud infrastructure, purchasing nearly 400 MW of solar power from EDP Renewables North America. Recommended read:
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@news.microsoft.com
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news.microsoft.com
, www.johnsnowlabs.com
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Microsoft is expanding its AI development initiatives globally, focusing on both talent cultivation and technological advancements. In Indonesia, Microsoft is welcoming BINUS University, Universitas Brawijaya (UB), Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), and Telkom University (TelU) to the elevAIte Indonesia partner ecosystem. This collaboration aims to skill 1 million Indonesian talents with relevant AI skills, addressing the increasing demand for AI expertise across industries. The elevAIte Indonesia initiative, launched in December 2024, expects to reach at least 400,000 educators and students through various programs, including training, certification exams, AI hackathons, and an incubation program for hackathon winners.
Microsoft is also improving AI agents' decision-making through an innovative approach called ExACT, which uses test-time compute scaling. ExACT combines Reflective-MCTS (R-MCTS) and Exploratory Learning to enhance how AI agents navigate environments, gather information, and make optimal decisions. Furthermore, John Snow Labs' Medical Large Language Models are now available on Azure Fabric, offering scalability and accuracy for medical tasks. This integration allows businesses to efficiently process large volumes of text data for tasks like named entity recognition, text summarization, and question answering, providing a powerful solution for data-driven decision-making in healthcare. Recommended read:
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mutiahanifa@Source Asia
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References:
news.microsoft.com
, the-decoder.com
Microsoft is expanding its AI integration across various services, including offering authors payment to train AI on their books and transforming government services in Abu Dhabi with AI. Microsoft is taking a new approach to using copyrighted books for AI training by offering payment to HarperCollins authors. The company has proposed a licensing agreement with publisher HarperCollins that would pay $5,000 per book for AI training rights, authors would receive half of that amount, or $2,500 per book, according to the publisher.
Microsoft is working to transform government services in Abu Dhabi with AI. The AI-powered TAMM app puts about 950 Abu Dhabi government services at the fingertips of 2.5 million citizens, residents and businesses, who made more than 10 million transactions in the past year, ranging from paying traffic fines to getting a marriage license. With TAMM’s AI assistant, finding answers to even the most complex government processes has become effortless. Recommended read:
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@www.geekwire.com
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techcrunch.com
, www.geekwire.com
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Microsoft's AI division is experiencing substantial growth, reaching a $13 billion annual revenue run rate, marking a 175% year-over-year increase. This rapid growth is fueled by the increased adoption of the company's AI services. However, this surge in AI revenue comes with increased scrutiny regarding Microsoft's spending on AI infrastructure. This is reflected in a record high capital expenditure of $22.6 billion for the last quarter, a figure that has raised concerns among investors despite overall revenue exceeding Wall Street expectations. Microsoft has also indicated a slight decrease in the anticipated growth of Azure for the next quarter.
Microsoft has also revealed that its professional networking platform, LinkedIn, has surpassed $2 billion in Premium subscription revenue in the past year. Overall LinkedIn revenue also rose 9% year-over-year. The increase in subscription revenue underscores the platform's efforts to add more features to its paid tiers, driving user engagement. However, while this is a significant milestone, the company has also acknowledged that future revenue growth is likely to be in the “low- to mid- single digits” due to pressures in the Talent Solutions division. Despite the strength of the AI sector, the company’s gaming division is not performing as well with Xbox hardware sales down significantly. Recommended read:
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stclarke@Source
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Microsoft has released its Q2 financial results, revealing a robust performance in its cloud and AI sectors. The company reported a 12% year-over-year revenue increase, reaching $69.6 billion, and a 10% rise in net income to $24.1 billion. The Intelligent Cloud segment, particularly Azure and other cloud services, was a major driver, seeing a 31% year-over-year growth. Microsoft’s AI business is booming, with its annual revenue run rate now exceeding $13 billion, marking an impressive 175% increase from last year. Microsoft 365 Commercial products and cloud services also demonstrated strong growth, rising by 15% year-over-year.
Despite the overall positive results, Microsoft's gaming division faced some headwinds. Gaming revenue experienced a 7% decline, and Xbox hardware revenue dropped significantly by 29%. However, Xbox content and services revenue showed a modest 2% growth, fueled by the popularity of Xbox Game Pass, which set a new quarterly revenue record. Additionally, Xbox Cloud Gaming saw a record 140 million hours streamed. Microsoft is also noted to be integrating DeepSeek's R1 AI model, which could potentially improve AI infrastructure costs, as it was noted that cost efficiencies are key. The company is focusing on growing its services as well as the games, and are moving away from hardware. Recommended read:
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Levi Li@digitimes.com
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References:
www.digitimes.com
, venturebeat.com
Microsoft has adjusted its partnership with OpenAI, now allowing the AI company to use other cloud providers in addition to Azure. While Microsoft retains the right to match any competing offers, this change marks a significant shift, potentially reshaping the cloud service landscape for artificial intelligence. This revision reduces OpenAI’s dependence on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform and opens doors for greater infrastructure flexibility, which could affect the competitive dynamics within the cloud service market.
The amended agreement comes as OpenAI expands its influence in AI, highlighted by its "Economic Blueprint" that calls for the U.S. to lead in AI infrastructure and policy, including the creation of AI economic zones and a "National AI Infrastructure Highway." This move also arrives amidst other major AI developments like the unveiling of 'Stargate', a $500bn joint venture involving OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, aiming to build a network of AI-powering data centers across the US. These events show the rapidly growing nature of the AI field and the need for diverse infrastructure and collaborations. Recommended read:
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