Last year, Microsoft announced the formation of a new Artificial Intelligence and Research Group, with over 5,000 computer scientists. At the time, the company said it intended to "build the world's most powerful AI supercomputer with Azure and make it available to anyone, to enable people and organizations to harness its power". Today, Microsoft revealed a new initiative to use its AI and machine learning capabilities in "solving some of the biggest environmental challenges of our time". "The scale and speed of the changes we see in our physical and natural world require new solutions," Microsoft said today. "But the latest innovative technologies often come with a price tag and require computational expertise that puts them out of reach for many researchers and nongovernmental organizations."