Microsoft Acquires AI Startup Maluuba: Is Cortana Getting Smarter?

Microsoft announced Friday that it has acquired the Canadian artificial intelligence (AI) startup Maluuba. The acquisition will help Microsoft develop artificial intelligence with improved language understanding and communication skills. Although it is yet to release an artificially intelligent voice assistant such as the Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, the company has, in recent years, been strengthening its AI capabilities. In September 2016, the company joined hands with Facebook, Google, Amazon and IBM to launch a nonprofit called the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society, or the Partnership on AI for short, aimed at advancing understanding of AI for the general public. With the acquisition of Maluuba, Microsoft will have an edge in terms of natural language processing.