News from the AI & ML world
DeeperML - #microsoftai
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@www.microsoft.com
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References:
www.microsoft.com
, Microsoft Research
Microsoft is making significant advancements in artificial intelligence, focusing on improved reasoning in language models and enhanced weather forecasting capabilities. New methods are being developed to boost reasoning in both small and large language models, combining symbolic logic, mathematical rigor, and adaptive planning. These techniques are designed to enable AI models to tackle complex, real-world problems across various fields, potentially transforming AI into a more reliable partner in domains like scientific research and healthcare.
A new AI model named Aurora, developed by Microsoft, can forecast hurricanes and sandstorms up to 5,000 times faster than conventional weather models powered by supercomputers. Aurora outperformed existing systems in predicting weather conditions over a 14-day period in 91% of cases. The model is trained on over 1 million hours of global atmospheric data, including weather station readings, satellite images, and radar measurements, representing one of the largest datasets used to train a weather AI model. To address the growing demand for data control in Europe, Microsoft is expanding its Sovereign Cloud offerings. This includes solutions that ensure European data remains within Europe, handled exclusively by Microsoft employees based in the region. The Sovereign Public Cloud offers tools and options for customer-controlled encryption and simplified configurations, providing organizations in Europe with greater control over their data. The cloud is offered across all existing European data center regions. Recommended read:
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Aarti Borkar@Microsoft Security Blog
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Microsoft is ramping up its AI initiatives with a focus on security and personal AI experiences. At the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, Microsoft is showcasing its AI-first, end-to-end security platform, designed to address the evolving cybersecurity challenges in the age of AI. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is being redefined to secure devices across various platforms, including Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, and IoT devices, offering comprehensive protection powered by advanced threat intelligence. This reflects Microsoft's commitment to providing security professionals with the tools and insights needed to manage risks effectively and protect valuable assets against increasingly sophisticated threats.
Microsoft is also exploring new ways to personalize the AI experience through Copilot. A potential feature called "Live Portraits" is under development, which could give Copilot a customizable, human-like face. This feature aims to make the AI assistant more interactive and engaging for users. The concept involves allowing users to select from various visual styles of male and female avatars, potentially merging this with previously explored "Copilot Characters" to offer a range of assistant personalities. The goal is to create a polished and personalized AI presence that enhances user interaction and makes Copilot feel more integrated into their daily lives. Microsoft has launched the Bing Video Creator, a free AI tool powered by OpenAI's Sora, allowing users to transform text prompts into short videos. This tool is available on the Bing Mobile App for iOS and Android (excluding China and Russia) and will soon be available on desktop and within Copilot Search. Users can generate five-second-long videos in portrait mode, with options for horizontal formats coming soon. The initiative aims to democratize AI video generation, making creative tools accessible to a broader audience. Recommended read:
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Jibin Joseph@PCMag Middle East ai
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Microsoft is expanding its AI capabilities by testing a new Copilot Live Portraits feature and making OpenAI's Sora video generator accessible for free through Bing Video Creator. The Copilot Live Portraits are currently in an experimental phase and introduce a new interface element with customizable avatars for users. These avatars, offering a selection of visual styles for male and female figures, could potentially serve as the visual interface for Copilot in voice-based interactions, creating a more human-like experience. Internal references suggest Microsoft might be developing real-time, visually expressive characters, aligning with the broader trend of synthetic video avatars in the AI space. The integration of Live Portraits may also influence the future of Copilot Characters, possibly merging both into a spectrum of assistants ranging from fixed personas to customizable 3D portraits.
Microsoft has launched Bing Video Creator with Sora integration for mobile users. Powered by OpenAI's Sora, the new tool transforms text prompts into short videos, offering users a free way to bring their creative ideas to life. The Bing Video Creator is available on the Bing mobile app for iOS and Android, allowing users to generate short video clips by simply describing what they want to see. This initiative follows the release of Bing Image Creator and Copilot, expanding Microsoft's AI-driven offerings. Bing Video Creator generates five-second videos in a 9:16 format, with plans to support 16:9 format in the future. The service operates on a two-tier speed system, with standard generation being free for all users and fast generation requiring Microsoft Rewards points after an initial allocation of ten free fast creations. Videos are stored for 90 days, and the platform supports direct sharing via email, social media, or generated direct links. Microsoft will implement the safeguards used by OpenAI for Sora, blocking potentially harmful prompts and watermarking outputs based on the C2PA standard. Recommended read:
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@www.microsoft.com
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www.engadget.com
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Microsoft is making significant strides in integrating Artificial Intelligence into real-world applications, with a strong emphasis on its impact on healthcare and enterprise solutions. Microsoft Research President Peter Lee is revisiting his earlier optimistic predictions about AI's transformative potential in healthcare, acknowledging both the successes and unforeseen challenges. This reassessment is being done through "The AI Revolution in Medicine, Revisited" podcast series, featuring discussions with thought leaders like Ethan Mollick and Azeem Azhar, who are exploring the multifaceted ways AI is reshaping healthcare and organizational systems. Their analysis covers areas like medical scribing, clinician support, and consumer health monitoring.
Microsoft CVP Charles Lamanna is championing the concept of the "Agent-Native Enterprise," highlighting how AI agents and open standards are poised to revolutionize business applications. In a recent discussion, Lamanna outlined strategies for scaling AI agents within organizations, rethinking organizational structures, and building in what he terms the "post-biz app era." He emphasized the importance of customer obsession and extreme ownership, principles he brought back to Microsoft from his own entrepreneurial experience. Lamanna believes that AI will enable the shift towards generalist teams, allowing enterprises to focus on high-impact AI projects. In other news, ZeniMax QA workers have reached a tentative union contract with Microsoft after two years of negotiations. The new contract, covering over 300 employees, includes substantial wage increases, new minimum salaries, and protections for workers against the impacts of AI. The agreement also introduces a crediting policy recognizing QA workers' contributions to video games. Jessee Leese, a QA tester and ZeniMax Workers United-CWA bargaining committee member, hailed the contract as a potential standard for fair treatment in the video game industry, encouraging other professionals to take action. The tentative contract is awaiting ratification by union members. Recommended read:
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@www.microsoft.com
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References:
John Werner
, www.microsoft.com
Microsoft is actively enhancing AI security and providing guidance to organizations navigating the integration of artificial intelligence. Deputy CISO Yonatan Zunger has shared valuable tips on safely and efficiently implementing AI, emphasizing the importance of a collaborative approach to establishing identity standards for agent access across various systems. Microsoft is also focused on building sophisticated AI agents that can augment and amplify organizational capabilities across various sectors.
Recent developments highlight Microsoft's commitment to advancing AI in healthcare. The Azure AI Foundry platform is powering key healthcare advancements in collaboration with Stanford, showcasing the practical application of agentic AI in analyzing complex data and improving patient outcomes. This partnership demonstrates the potential of AI to transform healthcare by enabling more efficient and accurate analysis, leading to better diagnoses and treatment plans. Microsoft is also focused on the future of AI agents and the need for evolving identity standards. As AI agents become more autonomous and capable of independent problem-solving, the need for secure and standardized access to data and systems becomes critical. The company's work in developing agents for developer and operations workflows, such as the Conditional Access Optimizer Agent, demonstrates its proactive approach to addressing these challenges and ensuring the responsible development and deployment of AI technologies. Recommended read:
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@www.microsoft.com
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References:
www.microsoft.com
Microsoft is aggressively integrating artificial intelligence across its products and services, striving to revolutionize the user experience. The company is focused on developing agentic systems that can work independently, proactively identify problems, suggest solutions, and maintain context across interactions. Microsoft envisions a future where AI agents will augment and amplify organizational capabilities, leading to significant transformations in various fields. To facilitate secure and flexible interactions, Microsoft is employing Model Context Protocol (MCP) to enable AI models to interact with external services.
As AI agents become more sophisticated and integrated into business processes, Microsoft recognizes the importance of evolving identity standards. The company is actively working on robust mechanisms to ensure agents can securely access data and act across connected systems, including APIs, code repositories, and enterprise systems. Microsoft emphasizes that industry collaboration on identity standards is crucial for the safe and effective deployment of AI agents. To aid organizations in safely adopting AI, Microsoft Deputy CISO Yonatan Zunger shares guidance for efficient implementation and defense against evolving identity attack techniques. Microsoft CVP Charles Lamanna offers an AI adoption playbook, emphasizing the importance of "customer obsession" and "extreme ownership" for both startups and large enterprises navigating the age of AI. Lamanna suggests focusing on a few high-impact AI projects instead of spreading resources thinly across numerous pilots. Recommended read:
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@www.microsoft.com
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Microsoft is aggressively pursuing AI integration across a range of its products and research initiatives. One notable project is Aurora, an AI model developed by Microsoft Research to revolutionize environmental forecasting. Senior Researchers Megan Stanley and Wessel Bruinsma are leading the charge, and recently discussed how Aurora extends its capabilities to predict tropical cyclones and ocean waves. Their work, detailed in a Nature publication titled "A Foundation Model for the Earth System," highlights Aurora's potential to significantly improve weather prediction accuracy and environmental understanding.
Microsoft is also experimenting with "AI Developing AI" through Project Amelie. This experimental AI agent aims to automate the creation of machine learning pipelines from a single prompt. Microsoft reports that in early testing, Project Amelie outperforms current state-of-the-art benchmarks on MLE-Bench, a framework that evaluates how effectively machine learning agents handle real-world tasks. During a live demo at Microsoft Build 2025, Project Amelie was showcased and how it can assist data scientists by automating the process of data sourcing, analysis, and formatting. This addresses the typically manual and time-consuming tasks involved in preparing data for machine learning. However, Microsoft's AI endeavors are not without their challenges. Research by Alex Lu, a senior researcher at Microsoft, indicates that zero-shot foundation models in single-cell biology currently underperform compared to simpler methods. Lu's work suggests that more research is needed to rigorously evaluate and improve the efficacy of AI models in biological applications. These findings, highlighted in the paper "Assessing the Limits of Zero-Shot Foundation Models in Single-Cell Biology," emphasize the importance of continued research and development to fully realize the potential of AI in scientific domains. Recommended read:
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Ken Yeung@Ken Yeung
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References:
PCMag Middle East ai
, Ken Yeung
Microsoft is exploring the frontier of AI-driven development with its experimental project, Project Amelie. Unveiled at Build 2025, Amelie is an AI agent designed to autonomously construct machine learning pipelines from a single prompt. This project showcases Microsoft's ambition to create AI that can develop AI, potentially revolutionizing how machine learning engineering tasks are performed. Powered by Microsoft Research's RD agent, Amelie aims to automate and optimize research and development processes in machine learning, eliminating the manual setup work typically handled by data scientists.
Early testing results are promising, with Microsoft reporting that Project Amelie has outperformed current benchmarks on MLE-Bench, a framework for evaluating machine learning agents' effectiveness in real-world tasks. During a live demo at Microsoft Build, Seth Juarez, Principal Program Manager for Microsoft's AI Platform, illustrated how Amelie could function as a "mini data scientist in a box," capable of processing and analyzing data that would typically take human scientists a day and a half to complete. This project has potential for applications in other scenarios where users want AI to carry out complex AI-related tasks. Should Project Amelie become commercialized, it could significantly advance Microsoft's goals for human-agent collaboration. While Microsoft is not alone in this endeavor, with companies like Google's DeepMind and OpenAI also exploring similar technologies, the project highlights a shift towards AI agents handling complex AI-related tasks independently. Developers interested in exploring the capabilities of Project Amelie can sign up to participate in its private preview, offering a glimpse into the future of AI-driven machine learning pipeline development. Recommended read:
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Ken Yeung@Ken Yeung
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Microsoft is making significant strides in AI innovation, with a focus on both experimental and practical applications. One notable project unveiled at Build 2025 is Project Amelie, an experimental AI agent designed to autonomously build machine learning pipelines from a single prompt. Powered by Microsoft Research's RD agent, Amelie aims to automate and optimize research and development processes in machine learning, potentially eliminating manual setup work typically handled by data scientists. Early testing has shown promising results, with Project Amelie outperforming current state-of-the-art benchmarks on MLE-Bench.
Microsoft is also applying AI to solve real-world problems in healthcare and weather forecasting. They have unveiled an AI-powered orchestration system available through the Azure AI Foundry Agent Catalog to streamline cancer care planning, which brings together specialized AI agents to assist clinicians with analyzing multimodal medical data from imaging and genomics to clinical notes and pathology. This system aims to automate parts of the tumor board process, making personalized treatment plans more accessible. In weather forecasting, Microsoft's latest AI model, Aurora, is able to provide detailed and accurate 10-day forecasts in seconds. In addition to these innovations, Microsoft is advancing its Windows AI strategy with native support for Model Context Protocol (MCP) on Windows 11 and the introduction of Windows AI Foundry. The MCP integration will bring Anthropic's protocol to Windows 11, enabling AI agents to connect with native apps, system services, and external tools. With its Windows AI Foundry, developers can fine-tune and run AI models directly on Windows PCs. These efforts aim to build a secure agentic future on Windows, fostering the development of AI agents within the Windows ecosystem. Recommended read:
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Jaime Hampton@AIwire
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AIwire
Microsoft has announced a new AI-powered orchestration system designed to revolutionize cancer care planning. This system, accessible through the Azure AI Foundry Agent Catalog, utilizes a healthcare agent orchestrator to consolidate and analyze diverse medical data sources such as imaging, genomics, clinical notes, and pathology. The goal is to assist clinicians in developing personalized treatment plans by streamlining the tumor board process, which traditionally involves in-depth reviews of patient records by multidisciplinary specialists.
The current tumor board model, while effective, is resource-intensive and only available to a small fraction of patients worldwide. Microsoft's AI-driven solution seeks to democratize access to comprehensive cancer care by automating key tasks within the tumor board workflow. The orchestrator employs both general-purpose and domain-specific AI agents to expedite processes that typically take hours. These agents can review and summarize medical images, pathology slides, and electronic health record (EHR) data, assess cancer stages according to established guidelines, identify relevant clinical trials, and compile current medical research into actionable reports. The AI system is designed to integrate seamlessly into platforms already used by clinicians, including Microsoft Teams, Word, and the broader Microsoft 365 suite. Early adopters of the technology include leading healthcare institutions such as Stanford Health Care, Johns Hopkins, Providence Genomics, and UW Health. Clinicians at Stanford are already using foundation model-generated summaries during tumor board meetings to reduce data fragmentation and surface insights that were previously difficult to access. The new healthcare agent orchestrator holds the potential to transform cancer care planning by enhancing efficiency, improving data accessibility, and ultimately enabling more personalized treatment strategies. Recommended read:
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Ken Yeung@Ken Yeung
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Ken Yeung
, www.marktechpost.com
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Microsoft is aggressively pushing artificial intelligence to the edge, demonstrating advancements in various applications at Build 2025. A key focus is enabling developers to build dynamic AI agents that integrate into browsers, websites, operating systems, and everyday workflows. This strategic shift moves away from standalone AI assistants towards integrated ecosystems where agents can operate across multiple use cases and seamlessly connect with digital infrastructure. The company aims to empower human workers by partnering them with autonomous agents, enhancing overall productivity through these AI-driven collaborations.
Microsoft is also making significant strides in weather forecasting with its new AI model, Aurora. This model promises accurate 10-day forecasts in seconds, potentially revolutionizing how weather predictions are made. Unlike traditional models, Aurora doesn't rely on the laws of physics, allowing it to generate results much faster. Beyond weather, Aurora's capabilities extend to forecasting other environmental elements like air pollution and cyclones, demonstrating its versatility and potential impact on various Earth systems. Microsoft is currently running this model in Europe's largest weather centers. In addition to environmental forecasting, Microsoft has introduced Magentic-UI, an open-source agent prototype designed to collaborate with users in completing complex tasks that require multi-step planning and browser use. Unlike autonomous agents that may sideline user control, Magentic-UI blends automation with real-time human input, leading to more accurate and trusted results. This approach addresses the challenge of visibility and intervention in web-based tasks, allowing users to guide and supervise agent behavior dynamically. This ensures that AI-driven actions align with user expectations and goals, especially in scenarios involving critical decisions. Recommended read:
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@devblogs.microsoft.com
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Microsoft is aggressively pushing AI innovation to the edge, with a series of announcements highlighting the company's vision for an AI-powered future where humans partner with autonomous agents. At the Build developer conference, Microsoft unveiled tools designed to help developers build this agentic future, embedding bots into browsers, websites, operating systems, and everyday workflows. Unlike previous Copilot-centric approaches, Microsoft is placing greater emphasis on dynamic agents, powered by integrations with third-party systems through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), shifting from single-use AI assistants to broader, integrated ecosystems.
Microsoft is also introducing the Agent Store for Microsoft 365 Copilot, a centralized, curated marketplace designed to help automate tasks, streamline workflows, and boost productivity. The Agent Store offers a new experience within Microsoft 365 Copilot that enables users to browse, install, and try agents tailored to their needs, and features agents built by Microsoft, trusted partners, and customers. With over 70 agents available at launch, the Agent Store aims to make it easier to discover, share, and deploy agents across teams and organizations, using both low-code and pro-code tools. Furthermore, Microsoft’s agentic AI platform, Azure AI Foundry, is powering key healthcare advances with Stanford. Beyond healthcare, Microsoft is exploring ways to bring AI to web apps on the Edge browser and enable developers to deploy bots directly on Windows, as the company recognizes the full potential of its AI agents ecosystem is still unfolding. Recommended read:
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Ken Yeung@Ken Yeung
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Microsoft is aggressively pushing AI innovation to the edge, a key theme highlighted at Microsoft Build 2025. The company is developing and integrating AI capabilities into various platforms, aiming to create smarter, faster experiences across devices. This initiative involves not only expanding cloud capabilities but also embedding AI agents into browsers, websites, the operating system, and everyday workflows. Microsoft envisions a future of AI-powered productivity where human workers partner with autonomous agents to streamline tasks and enhance efficiency.
Microsoft is also making strides in AI-driven weather forecasting with its latest AI model, Aurora. This model promises accurate 10-day forecasts in seconds, a significant improvement over traditional models that take hours. Aurora isn't limited to weather; it can also handle any Earth system with available data, opening possibilities for forecasting air pollution, cyclones, and other environmental factors. While the model "doesn't know the laws of physics," its data-driven approach delivers detailed and quick forecasts, demonstrating the potential of AI in revolutionizing how we understand and predict environmental changes. A core component of Microsoft's AI strategy is the integration of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) into Windows 11. This integration aims to transform the operating system into an "agentic" platform, where AI agents can securely interact with apps and system tools to carry out tasks across files and services. MCP acts as a standardized communication protocol, facilitating seamless interaction between AI agents, applications, and services. With security measures in place, MCP allows for powerful AI integrations while mitigating risks, enabling new forms of AI-driven experiences for Windows 11 users. Recommended read:
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Sean Endicott@windowscentral.com
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Microsoft is aggressively pursuing the integration of AI agents across its ecosystem, as highlighted at Build 2025. The company is embedding AI deeper into Windows 11, utilizing the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to facilitate secure interaction between AI agents and both applications and system tools. This move transforms Windows into an "agentic" platform where AI can automate tasks without direct human intervention. The MCP acts as a standardized communication layer, enabling diverse AI agents and applications to seamlessly share information and perform actions. Microsoft is also pushing AI to the edge with tools unveiled at Build 2025, and are creating smarter faster experiences across devices.
Microsoft is also enhancing its Microsoft 365 Copilot with "Model Tuning," allowing businesses to train the AI assistant on internal data, creating domain-specific expertise. This feature enables the creation of AI agents customized for specialized tasks, such as legal document creation or drafting arguments, using an organization’s unique knowledge base. It’s designed to secure data within the platform, ensuring that internal information isn't used to train broader foundation models. The feature is rolling out in June through the Microsoft Copilot Tuning Program, available to customers with at least 5,000 M365 Copilot licenses. Adding to its AI advancements, Microsoft is exploring AI's role in various applications, like integrating Copilot into Notepad for AI-assisted writing and developing AI models like Aurora for accurate weather forecasting. However, a potential security concern arose when a private Teams message inadvertently revealed that "Microsoft is WAY ahead of Google with AI security" during a Build 2025 protest. The leaked message was within a Microsoft Teams message where Walmart are expanding their use of AI. The company is also developing NLWeb, an open-source protocol designed to AI-enable the web by transforming websites into AI-powered conversational interfaces. Recommended read:
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@www.microsoft.com
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Microsoft is aggressively expanding its AI integration across its product ecosystem. Recent announcements highlight the company's efforts to embed AI into core applications like Windows Notepad and Dynamics 365, as well as leverage AI for advanced solutions like weather forecasting with its Aurora model. A key component of this strategy is the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which is being implemented in Windows 11 to facilitate secure and standardized interactions between AI agents, applications, and system tools. These initiatives demonstrate Microsoft's commitment to reshaping how users interact with technology, aiming to enhance productivity and automate complex processes across both enterprise and consumer environments.
Microsoft's AI push includes the integration of Copilot into the Windows Notepad application, enabling AI-driven text generation and refinement directly within the text editor. This update, while raising questions about its necessity for such a basic tool, reflects Microsoft's broader ambition to infuse AI capabilities into even its most established and simple software. Additionally, the introduction of Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers for Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM business applications signals a major step towards creating "agent-ready" business applications. MCP will remove the need to manually connect systems together to build agents and accelerate the ability for customers and partners to build AI-powered agents. The goal is to allow AI agents to operate seamlessly across various business processes, industries, and segments, making businesses more efficient. Microsoft's Aurora AI model showcases the potential of AI to revolutionize specialized domains like weather forecasting. Aurora is designed to provide detailed and accurate 10-day forecasts in seconds, a task that traditionally takes hours using conventional models. This breakthrough not only promises faster and more precise weather predictions but also demonstrates the model's versatility, as it can be trained to forecast other environmental elements like air pollution and cyclones. Furthermore, the implementation of MCP in Windows 11 focuses on enabling AI agents to interact with applications and system tools, with security measures in place. This move aims to transform Windows 11 into an "agentic" platform, where AI agents can carry out tasks across apps, files, and services without needing manual inputs. Recommended read:
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Source Asia@Source Asia
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Microsoft's Aurora AI foundation model is revolutionizing weather and environmental forecasting, offering quicker and more accurate predictions compared to traditional methods. Developed by Microsoft Research, Aurora is a large-scale AI model trained on a vast dataset of atmospheric information, including satellite data, radar readings, weather station observations, and simulations. This comprehensive training allows Aurora to forecast a range of environmental events, from hurricanes and typhoons to air quality and ocean waves, with exceptional precision and speed. The model's capabilities extend beyond conventional weather forecasting, making it a versatile tool for understanding and predicting environmental changes.
Aurora's unique architecture enables it to be fine-tuned for specific tasks using modest amounts of additional data. This "fine-tuning" process allows the model to generate forecasts in seconds, demonstrating its efficiency and adaptability. Researchers have shown that Aurora outperforms existing numerical and AI models in 91% of forecasting targets when fine-tuned for medium-range weather forecasts. Its ability to accurately predict hurricane trajectories and other extreme weather events highlights its potential to improve disaster preparedness and response efforts, ultimately saving lives and mitigating damage. Senior researchers Megan Stanley and Wessel Bruinsma emphasized Aurora's broader impact on environmental science, noting its potential to revolutionize the field. In a paper published in Nature, they highlighted Aurora's ability to correctly forecast hurricanes in 2023 more accurately than operational forecasting centers, such as the US National Hurricane Center. Aurora also demonstrated its capabilities when correctly forecasting where and when Doksuri would hit the Philippines four days in advance. These findings underscore the transformative potential of AI in addressing complex environmental challenges and paving the way for more effective climate modeling and environmental event management. Recommended read:
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@news.microsoft.com
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Microsoft has announced NLWeb, an open project aimed at transforming websites into AI-powered apps. This initiative seeks to simplify the creation of natural language interfaces for websites, enabling users to query site content using natural language, similar to interacting with an AI assistant. NLWeb leverages existing semi-structured formats like Schema.org and RSS, combining them with Large Language Model (LLM)-powered tools to create these interfaces.
Every NLWeb instance functions as a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, allowing websites to make their content discoverable and accessible to AI agents. The project is technology agnostic, supporting all major operating systems, models, and vector databases. Microsoft envisions NLWeb playing a role similar to HTML in the emerging agentic web, empowering web publishers to participate on their terms and ensuring their websites can interact, transact, and be discovered by other agents. NLWeb was conceived by R.V. Guha, a Microsoft CVP and Technical Fellow, who is also the creator of web standards like RSS and Schema.org. Early adopters, including TripAdvisor, Shopify, Eventbrite, Hearst, and O’Reilly, have already implemented NLWeb for various use cases, such as restaurant discovery and e-commerce product searches, all powered by conversational interfaces. Microsoft hopes NLWeb's open approach will foster widespread adoption, leading to a decentralized, agent-ready web. Recommended read:
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@blogs.microsoft.com
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Microsoft is making significant moves in the realm of agentic AI and open-source technologies. In a strategic shift to invest more in AI-centric solutions and streamline operations, the company has been actively involved in initiatives ranging from open-sourcing key development tools to integrating AI into enterprise platforms. One notable example is the open-sourcing of Pyrefly, a faster Python type checker written in Rust, aimed at helping developers catch errors before runtime. This aligns with Microsoft's broader efforts to enhance developer productivity and contribute to the open-source community.
Microsoft is also focusing on integrating AI into enterprise solutions, highlighted by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff mentioning the company’s Agentforce platform. The company is also cutting around 7,000 jobs, mostly in middle management and non-technical roles. This decision reflects a strategic reallocation of resources towards AI infrastructure. Microsoft plans to invest heavily in data centers designed for training and running AI models, signaling a major push into AI-driven technologies. Despite strong earnings, Microsoft is trimming its workforce to free up resources for AI investments. The layoffs, primarily affecting middle managers and support staff, are part of a broader industry trend where companies are streamlining operations to accelerate product cycles and reduce bureaucracy. While Microsoft shuts off Bing Search APIs and recommends switching to AI , Twilio has partnered with Microsoft to expand AI capabilities. Recommended read:
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Kevin Okemwa@windowscentral.com
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engineering.fb.com
, www.windowscentral.com
Microsoft is strategically prioritizing AI model accessibility through Azure, with CEO Satya Nadella emphasizing making AI solutions available to customers for maximum profit. This approach involves internal restructuring, including job cuts, to facilitate increased investment in AI and streamline operations. The goal is to build a robust, subscription-based AI operating system that leverages advancements like ChatGPT, ensuring that Microsoft remains competitive in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Microsoft is actively working on improving integrations with external data sources using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This initiative has led to a collaboration with Twilio to enhance conversational AI capabilities for enterprise customer communication. Twilio's technology helps deliver the "last mile" of AI conversations, enabling businesses to integrate Microsoft's conversational intelligence capabilities into their existing communication channels. This partnership gives Twilio greater visibility among Microsoft's enterprise customers, exposing its developer tools to large firms looking to build extensible custom communication solutions. In addition to these strategic partnerships, Microsoft is also contributing to the open-source community by releasing Pyrefly, a faster Python type checker written in Rust. Developed initially at Meta for Instagram's codebase, Pyrefly is now available for the broader Python community to use, helping developers catch errors before runtime. The release of Pyrefly signifies Microsoft's commitment to fostering innovation and supporting the development of AI-related tools and technologies. Recommended read:
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@www.microsoft.com
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Microsoft is pushing the boundaries of AI with advancements in both model efficiency and novel applications. The company recently commemorated the one-year anniversary of Phi-3 by introducing three new small language models: Phi-4-reasoning, Phi-4-reasoning-plus, and Phi-4-mini-reasoning. These models are designed to deliver complex reasoning capabilities that rival much larger models while maintaining efficiency for diverse computing environments. According to Microsoft, "Phi-4-reasoning generates detailed reasoning chains that effectively leverage additional inference-time compute," demonstrating that high-quality synthetic data and careful curation can lead to smaller models that perform comparably to their more powerful counterparts.
The 14-billion parameter Phi-4-reasoning and its enhanced version, Phi-4-reasoning-plus, have shown outstanding performance on numerous benchmarks, outperforming larger models. Notably, they achieve better results than OpenAI's o1-mini and a DeepSeek R1 distill on Llama 70B on mathematical reasoning and PhD-level science questions. Furthermore, Phi-4-reasoning-plus surpasses the massive 671-billion parameter DeepSeek-R1 model on AIME and HMMT evaluations. These results highlight the efficiency and competitive edge of the new models. In addition to pushing efficiency, Microsoft Research has introduced ARTIST (Agentic Reasoning and Tool Integration in Self-improving Transformers), a framework that combines agentic reasoning, reinforcement learning, and dynamic tool use to enhance LLMs. ARTIST enables models to autonomously decide when, how, and which tools to use. This framework aims to address the limitations of static internal knowledge and text-only reasoning, especially in tasks requiring real-time information or domain-specific expertise. The integration of reinforcement learning allows the models to adapt dynamically and interact with external tools and environments during the reasoning process, ultimately improving their performance in real-world applications. Recommended read:
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@www.marktechpost.com
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the-decoder.com
, www.marktechpost.com
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Microsoft Research has unveiled ARTIST (Agentic Reasoning and Tool Integration in Self-improving Transformers), a reinforcement learning framework designed to enhance Large Language Models (LLMs) with agentic reasoning and dynamic tool use. This framework addresses the limitations of current RL-enhanced LLMs, which often rely on static internal knowledge and text-only reasoning, making them unsuitable for tasks requiring real-time information, domain-specific expertise, or precise computations. ARTIST enables models to autonomously decide when, how, and which tools to use, allowing for more effective reasoning strategies that adapt dynamically to a task’s complexity.
Microsoft researchers have also conducted a comparison of API-based and GUI-based AI agents, revealing the distinct advantages of each approach. API agents, which interact with software through programmable interfaces, are found to be faster, more stable, and less error-prone as they complete tasks via direct function calls. GUI agents, on the other hand, mimic human interactions with software interfaces, navigating menus and clicking buttons on a screen. While GUI agents may require multiple actions to accomplish the same goal, their versatility allows them to control almost any software with a visible interface, even without an API. In a move to foster interoperability across platforms, Microsoft has announced support for the open Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol. This protocol empowers multi-agent applications by enabling structured agent communication, including the exchange of goals, management of state, invocation of actions, and secure return of results. A2A is set to be integrated into Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio, allowing developers to build agents that interoperate across clouds and frameworks while maintaining enterprise-grade security and compliance. Microsoft aims to empower both pro and citizen developers to create agents that can orchestrate tasks across diverse environments. Recommended read:
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