Microsoft Ventures launches new fund for AI startups and backs Element AI incubator

Microsoft Ventures today announced two steps that point to how the tech giant's VC arm wants to get involved in artificial intelligence in a big way. First, it's now going to pursue investments through a special fund dedicated to AI startups that focus on "inclusive growth and positive impact on society." Second, it is the first announced backer for Element AI, a new incubator out of Montreal co-founded by "the godfather of machine learning" Yoshua Bengio, which is dedicated to the space. As with its news in May first announcing Microsoft Ventures and its initial focus on cloud-based startups, the VC firm is not specifying just how much money it intends to invest in artificial intelligence, or in Element AI specifically. Element AI, in which Microsoft is taking a seed investment, is not the only AI investment that Microsoft Ventures is making public today. The broader area of AI feels like the technology of the moment, with its many branches used across any and every service, platform and feature to -- simply put -- make tech more efficient, smarter -- and possibly more frightening.