Microsoft Corp CEO says he's committed to artificial intelligence even after Tay chatbot debacle

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said his company is committed to playing a key role in the emerging market for artificial intelligence-based chat software, one week after the company's first Internet chat bot in the U.S. was so manipulated by users that it had to be pulled down within a day of its introduction. "It's a simple concept yet it's very powerful in its impact it is about taking the power of human language and applying it more pervasively in all our computing," Nadella said about the strategy the company has dubbed conversation as a platform. The CEO was speaking Wednesday at the company's Build conference for software developers in San Francisco. Later, in a keynote speech, Nadella will outline the company's strategy for conversation-based products working with bots, which are pieces of software that use artificial intelligence to automate or accomplish tasks, as well as tools for developers to create their own. Nadella has been trying to expand Microsoft's reach and influence in AI, emphasizing how the technology can augment products in the mobile and cloud-computing markets.