Microsoft, a leading tech company, recently held its annual Build conference where several AI-related announcements were made. One of the most significant unveilings was Microsoft's new GPT-4o model for Azure, which is a multimodal model capable of understanding inputs via text, audio, and video. This development comes as tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta Platforms Inc., and Apple intensify their AI investments in a bid to outmaneuver one another during the biggest tech scramble in years.
At the conference, Microsoft also introduced Team Copilot for Microsoft 365. This new feature allows users to manage meeting agendas, take notes, summarize Teams chats, answer questions related to those conversations, track user deadlines, and notify individual team members when they need to take action. Additionally, Microsoft is offering AMD's MI300X chip for developers looking to train and deploy AI apps on the Azure platform.
The Build conference took place from May 21-23, 2024, with approximately 60 announcements made during the event. Most content was available on demand for those not able to attend in person. The event attracted around 4,000 people and had over 300 sessions.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella provided updates on Microsoft's AI advancements at the Build keynote, with Copilot being a major theme following hardware announcements on Monday. Other announcements included GitHub Copilot extensions and a partnership with Khan Academy to bring free AI tools to teachers in the US.
Microsoft is also integrating AI agents, named Copilot, into its software that can be used as virtual employees for menial tasks such as monitoring emails, carrying out automated tasks, helping with employee onboarding, and doing data entry without being prompted. The Microsoft Edge browser will have an AI-powered real-time video translation feature for dubbing videos from YouTube, LinkedIn, Reuters, and Coursera. Microsoft Teams will allow users to add their own custom emojis in July.
Microsoft's Build 2024 event marked a significant push towards integrating AI into various aspects of its software offerings.