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Microsoft AI and Research chief Harry Shum, speaking in San Francisco Wednesday. Photo: Ina Fried/Axios
Microsoft announced a bunch of new partnerships Wednesday as it aims to show itself as a leader in the field of artificial intelligence. It's also adding a bunch of AI-powered features to its own products, including its Bing search engine along with a deep integration of content from Reddit.
Why it matters: AI is one of the hottest areas in tech and Microsoft is competing with Google, Facebook, IBM and others for talent, mindshare and deals.
Partnerships: Microsoft announced efforts with a range of companies, including Reddit, UPS and China's Cheetah Mobile. In the Reddit deal, Microsoft's Bing search engine will use content from the online discussion community, including its popular "Ask Me Anything" Q&As.
Internal efforts
- On the Bing front, Microsoft is using AI to deliver answers that combine information from multiple sites. That can allow results that compare different arguments on an issue, explore the differences between two things or just deliver a summary of facts from more than one place, with footnotes showing where the information came from. It is also making Bing more conversational and allowing people to search within images.
- With Cortana, Microsoft is trying to help its digital assistant stand out from a crowded pack that includes Apple's Siri, Google's Assistant and Amazon's Alexa. Microsoft's case is that it is the only digital assistant that stretches across work and personal life. To that end, Microsoft said Cortana can now understand calendar and other data from Google's Gmail. It's also building Cortana into Android apps, including the CM Launcher app from China's Cheetah Mobile.
- Microsoft is also expanding its use of AI in Office 365. A new insights feature will automatically make charts showing trends within a complex spreadsheet. Within word, AI will help make sense of acronyms within a document using other documents within the company. Microsoft already prioritizes which e-mails to read first, but a new feature will help find the action items within Outlook.