Microsoft’s AI bet paying off; Copilot, OpenAI draw customers, investors.
Microsoft Corp is investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) technology and its early results are encouraging. In June 2020, the company released GitHub Copilot, an AI-powered code writing tool, which was used by 400,000 people within a month. Currently, more than 1 million people have used the tool. Microsoft is also investing billions in OpenAI, a startup that is at the forefront of generative AI technology.
GitHub Copilot is a subscription-based tool that can write up to 35-40% of a file’s code. It can be used by individual developers for $100 a year or billed through a corporate account. In addition, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which can draft code as well as essays or poetry, is also available through Microsoft’s cloud.
Microsoft’s AI investments are part of its strategy to compete with Alphabet Inc’s Google, the industry leader. Google is also working on its own major AI launch. Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, which offers OpenAI’s tech through Microsoft’s cloud, has already attracted 200 customers.
Despite the encouraging results of Microsoft’s AI investments, its cloud-computing revenue forecast for the current quarter fell below Wall Street expectations. This caused the company’s shares to dip slightly in after-hours trade.
Overall, Microsoft’s investments in AI technology are showing encouraging results. The company’s AI-powered code writing tool, GitHub Copilot, has been used by more than 1 million people and its Azure OpenAI Service has attracted 200 customers. Despite this, Microsoft’s cloud-computing revenue forecast for the current quarter fell below expectations, causing the company’s shares to dip slightly.
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