Microsoft Lays Out Its AI Ambitions

As Microsoft partners and customers watched Satya Nadella take the stage at the Inspire conference this week in Washington, D.C., Harry Shum, executive vice president of Microsoft's AI and Research Group was speaking at an entirely unrelated, but arguably as important, meeting in London. While Nadella was unveiling Microsoft 365 and a number of complementary apps like Connections, Shum was outlining the Redmond, Wash.-based giant's vision for artificial intelligence (AI). Shum's announced the creation of a new research lab during his address. The Microsoft Research AI hub is based in Microsoft's headquarters and will focus on developing artificial intelligence technologies for both the business and consumer markets. More than 100 scientists from cross-disciplinary AI fields including reasoning, natural language processing, perceptions and learning will comprise the Research AI team.