News from the AI & ML world

DeeperML - #taskautomation

Alexey Shabanov@TestingCatalog //
Microsoft is aggressively expanding the AI capabilities within its Copilot ecosystem, incorporating task automation and enhanced content creation tools. The company is currently testing "Agent Actions" in Microsoft Copilot, a feature designed to automate daily computing tasks. This capability, initially limited to select testers or Copilot Pro subscribers, is intended to allow users to delegate tasks during brief sessions. Furthermore, Copilot now includes native image generation powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o model, replacing DALL-E 3. This upgrade allows users across various platforms to generate higher-quality visuals directly within the app, negating the need for third-party integrations.

Microsoft is also refining the visual identity of Copilot, evolving the appearances of its AI personas. The fourth character, resembling a bubblegum or cloud, is undergoing further design changes. These characters, which serve as a branding layer, are expected to be further refined before their full release. These changes align with Microsoft's focus on seamlessly integrating productivity, assistance, and personality within the Copilot AI environment.

Copilot for Sales is receiving significant updates aimed at streamlining sales workflows and improving CRM integration. These improvements include improved extensibility for third-party insights in email summaries within Outlook, providing partners the ability to surface richer sales insights. Additionally, sellers can now directly save AI-generated meeting summaries to CRM systems such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Salesforce from Teams, eliminating the need for manual logging. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has stated that the company's AI model performance is doubling every six months due to improvements in pre-training, inference, and system design.

Recommended read:
References :
  • www.microsoft.com: Microsoft details What’s New in Copilot for Sales – April 2025, We’re excited to announce improved extensibility for 3rd party insights in email summaries in Outlook, allowing partners to surface richer sales insights.
  • TestingCatalog: Testing Catalog reports Microsoft Copilot starts testing Agent Actions and adds native image generation
  • Microsoft Copilot Blog: Release Notes: May 2, 2025
  • PCMag Middle East ai: Microsoft Tests Using Copilot AI to Adjust Windows 11 Settings for You
  • www.windowscentral.com: Microsoft unveils "new generation of Windows experiences" — here's what's on the way to Windows 11 and Copilot+ PCs
  • www.zdnet.com: Microsoft's new AI skills are coming to Copilot+ PCs - including some for all Windows 11 users
  • www.ghacks.net: Microsoft is making AI useful in Windows by introducing AI agents
  • www.techradar.com: Microsoft has a big new AI settings upgrade for Windows 11 on Copilot+ PCs – plus 3 other nifty tricks

Allison Siu@NVIDIA Blog //
Amazon is currently testing a new feature called "Buy for Me" within its mobile shopping app. This innovative tool allows users to purchase products from third-party brand websites that are not directly sold by Amazon, all without ever leaving the Amazon app environment. The feature leverages AI agents to seamlessly complete the purchase process on these external sites. "Buy for Me" is in a limited beta release for select iOS and Android users in the U.S.

When a customer searches for an item not available on Amazon, the app will display qualifying products from external brand sites in a dedicated section titled "Shop brand sites directly". Tapping on one of these items opens a product detail page within the Amazon app. From this page, users can select the "Buy for Me" option, granting Amazon permission to complete the transaction. Amazon's AI, combined with Anthropic's Claude, securely enters the payment and shipping information, while the brand handles fulfillment, customer service, and any potential returns.

This initiative showcases the potential of narrowly scoped, highly specialized AI agents in providing useful services. It keeps customers within Amazon's ecosystem while extending functionality beyond its own inventory. Retailers can deepen customer engagement, enhance their offerings and maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly shifting digital marketplace by tapping into AI agents.

Recommended read:
References :
  • Data Phoenix: Amazon's Nova Act joins OpenAI and Anthropic's computer using AI agents
  • NVIDIA Newsroom: From Browsing to Buying: How AI Agents Enhance Online Shopping
  • Shelly Palmer: Amazon is testing a new feature in its mobile shopping app that lets users buy products Amazon doesn’t sell—without leaving the app.
  • gHacks Technology News: Amazon is taking artificial intelligence to the next-level with its newly announced “Buy for me†feature.
  • Maginative: Amazon Tests AI Shopping Agent That Can Make Purchases from Other Retailers for You

Allison Siu@NVIDIA Blog //
Amazon has recently introduced two significant advancements in the realm of artificial intelligence: Nova Act, an AI model designed for browser-based task automation, and a testing phase for the ‘Buy for Me’ feature in its mobile shopping application. Nova Act, currently available as a research preview, prioritizes the reliable execution of simple commands over complex workflows. Amazon aims to unlock the potential of truly autonomous and capable AI agents. The Nova Act SDK allows developers to experiment with the model's capabilities, enabling agents to complete tasks such as submitting out-of-office requests and configuring automatic replies.

The company stresses that genuine AI agents should not primarily focus on conversation or knowledge retrieval, differentiating them from current AI-powered assistants. According to Amazon, Nova Act is designed to complete tasks and act in digital and physical environments on behalf of the user. The potential applications extend to complex, multi-step workflows, such as organizing a wedding or handling complex IT tasks. The company has designed Nova Act to prioritize reliability by accurately completing simpler, low-level actions that, according to the company, trip rival models more often, such as date picking or navigating drop-downs and pop-ups.

Simultaneously, Amazon is testing the ‘Buy for Me’ feature, which integrates AI agents into the mobile shopping app to facilitate purchases from third-party brand websites, even for products not directly sold by Amazon. This feature, in limited beta for select iOS and Android users in the U.S., allows users to authorize Amazon to complete transactions on external brand sites, utilizing Amazon’s Nova AI, along with Anthropic’s Claude via Bedrock, to securely handle payment and shipping details. While the brand handles fulfillment, customer service, and returns, customers can track their purchases within the Amazon app, representing a narrowly scoped, highly-specialized AI agent doing something useful.

Recommended read:
References :
  • Data Phoenix: Amazon unveiled Nova Act, an AI model for browser-based task completion. Available as a research preview, Nova Act prioritizes reliability in executing simple commands rather than higher-level workflows as the key to unlock genuine AI agents that are both capable and autonomous.
  • www.producthunt.com: AI Agent that shops in other sites
  • shellypalmer.com: Amazon is testing a new feature in its mobile shopping app that lets users buy products Amazon doesn’t sell—without leaving the app.

Nishant N@MarkTechPost //
References: AI ? SiliconANGLE , AI News ,
Amazon has unveiled Nova Act, a new AI model designed to automate web browser tasks and build AI agents. This research preview, from the Amazon AGI San Francisco Lab, allows AI to take control of web browsers and perform independent actions. The goal is to create agents capable of performing tangible, multi-step tasks in diverse digital and physical environments, such as organizing a wedding or handling complex IT tasks. Amazon envisions agents as more than just responders, but as entities capable of performing these tasks to increase business productivity.

To help facilitate the development of these agents, Amazon is releasing a research preview of the Amazon Nova Act SDK. The SDK enables developers to create agents capable of automating web tasks like submitting out-of-office notifications, scheduling calendar holds, or enabling automatic email replies. It breaks down complex workflows into dependable "atomic commands," such as searching, checking out, or interacting with specific interface elements. This SDK supports browser manipulation via Playwright, API calls, Python integrations, and parallel threading to overcome web page load delays, further enhancing accuracy and control.

Recommended read:
References :
  • AI ? SiliconANGLE: Amazon.com Inc. today introduced Nova Act, a new artificial intelligence agent that can take control of web browsers and take independent actions. The new AI agent is a research preview built by Amazon’s newly opened Amazon AGI San Francisco Lab, which was behind the release of the Amazon Nova foundation models in December.
  • AI News: Amazon has introduced Nova Act, an advanced AI model engineered for smarter agents that can execute tasks within web browsers. While large language models popularised the concept of “agents†as tools that answer queries or retrieve information via methods such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), Amazon envisions something more robust.
  • TestingCatalog: Discover Amazon's Nova Act, a new AI model for automating web tasks. Released as a research preview, it excels in reliability and developer control. Try it now!