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.

Microsoft Ventures has launched a new fund for investment in AI companies focussed on inclusive growth and positive impact on the society. Talking about the announcement, Nagraj Kashyap, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Ventures, in a blogpost said, "We'll make investments in startups that are responsibly harnessing the promise of AI to empower people and businesses. Companies in this fund will help people and machines work together to increase access to education, teach new skills and create jobs, enhance the capabilities of existing workforces, and improve the treatment of diseases, to name just a few examples." The first investment from this fund is for Montreal-based Element AI – an incubator and platform that helps organisations embrace an AI-first strategy in support of these principles. With this move, Microsoft Ventures has also announced the expansion of its original mandate of supporting cloud companies that help enterprises to navigate the path of digital transformation.

US-based Microsoft Ventures, the venture capital arm of software giant Microsoft, announced on Monday that it has formed a new fund for investments in startups focused on artificial intelligence. Nagraj Kashyap, who heads Microsoft Ventures, confirmed the development in a blog post. The corpus of the new fund was not announced, but the company has already made its first investment from this fund in Montreal-based firm Element AI. "This new fund will make investments of similar size to previous Microsoft Ventures investments, and will only include businesses with promise for strong financial returns (as opposed to non-profits or NGOs)," Kashyap wrote in a blog post. Founded in 2016, Element AI offers artificial intelligence solutions to large corporations through its incubator platform. The firm's team comprises academic researchers from research labs across North America.

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.

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 in AI startups 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 is not the only AI investment that Microsoft Ventures is making public today: it's also part of a $15 million round for Tact, a CRM startup.