Microsoft combines Bing and Cortana with Microsoft Research in order to accelerate new advanced artificial intelligence features.
Microsoft AI And Research Group
According to Ars Technica, Microsoft aims to embed AI into infrastructure, services, applications and agents. The high-tech company tries to "democratize artificial intelligence" and bring include AI features to the most various systems that everyone uses.
In order to implement this development strategy, Microsoft is changing its organization. The company announced on Thursday, Sept. 29, that it is creating a new group called the AI and Research Group. This new Microsoft AI division will be created by combining the existing Microsoft Research group with the Cortana and Bing product groups.
Teams working on ambient computing, the Information Platform Group and robotics will also be integrated in the newly created AI and Research Group. Together, the new Microsoft division will reunite around 5,000 computer scientists and engineers.
Microsoft's AI and Research Group will be lead by 20-year company veteran Harry Shum, who occupied previously the function of Executive Vice President of Technology and Research. The new Microsoft AI division will become company's fourth engineering group, alongside Azure, Office and Windows.
According to PCWorld, by taking the unusual step of combining its Microsoft Research division with Bing and Cortana product teams, the company aims to accelerate innovation for both the digital assistant and the search engine. The move is part of a wider reorganization of the company in which its Applications and Services Group as well as Microsoft's Office applications were split into two separate organizations.
For over a year, the high-tech company has been implementing artificial intelligence into as many products as possible. For instance, based on user's calendar and the current traffic conditions, Cortana can remind them when to leave for an upcoming appointment. Business intelligence products like PowerBI have become an important focus among Microsoft's enterprise products and Skype Translate uses speech recognition and machine learning in order to translate spoken conversations in real time.
