Microsoft’s strategic foresight and bold investments in AI have propelled the software giant to claim the title of the world’s most valuable company. However, Satya Nadella, the usually composed chief executive of the company, couldn’t help but take a subtle dig at the rest of the industry. “We have an …
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Expanding EU data localization efforts to include system logs is Microsoft’s latest move
In the European Union, Microsoft has completed the second stage of launching its data localization service. The most recent rollout of the “EU Data Boundary for the Microsoft Cloud” (the infrastructure’s official name) began in early 2017. Following its earlier announcement, Microsoft is on track to finish the second phase …
Read More »Azure Quantum Elements are powered by Microsoft
Microsoft has collaborated with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) of the United States Department of Energy to narrow down millions of candidate new battery materials to only a few using its Azure Quantum Elements service. One of these materials is already in the prototype stage, according to Microsoft’s announcement …
Read More »Startups receive free AI chips from Microsoft and VCs
Microsoft wants to give a few startups free Azure cloud “supercomputing” resources to develop AI models during an AI chip shortage. Microsoft added a free Azure AI infrastructure option for “high-end,” Nvidia-based GPU virtual machine clusters to train and run generative models, including large language models like ChatGPT, to its …
Read More »Microsoft-affiliated research finds GTP-4 flaws
Following instructions too closely can get you in trouble if you’re a large language model. A new Microsoft-affiliated scientific paper examined the “trustworthiness” and toxicity of large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s GPT-4 and GPT-3.5. The co-authors suggest that GPT-4 may be more susceptible to “jailbreaking” prompts that bypass the …
Read More »Microsoft-Activision: UK may approve restructured deal
Microsoft’s restructured acquisition of Activision is being considered by the UK’s competition watchdog. In an update on its ongoing assessment today, it said the deal “makes important changes that substantially address the concerns it set out in relation to the original transaction earlier this year”. The Competition and Markets Authority …
Read More »UK CMA blocks Microsoft-Activision but opens new investigation of restructured deal
UK antitrust regulator confirms April decision to block $68.7BN Microsoft-Activision gaming mega-merger, rejecting Microsoft’s arguments that it should overturn its original prohibition due to developments. Microsoft’s restructured proposal was recently reviewed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which announced a new investigation today. The tech giant would not acquire …
Read More »Microsoft misplaced its keys, hacking the government
Microsoft doesn’t know or want to discuss how China-backed hackers obtained a key to covertly break into hundreds of email inboxes, including those of multiple federal government institutions. In a blog post Friday, Microsoft said it was “ongoing investigation” how the hackers obtained a Microsoft signature key and used it …
Read More »Microsoft lets cybersecurity generative AI run amok
Microsoft unveiled Security Copilot today as part of its ongoing effort to incorporate generative AI into all of its products. This new tool promises to “summarize” and “make sense” threat intelligence. Microsoft promoted Security Copilot in a vague statement as a mechanism to correlate attack data while prioritizing security problems. …
Read More »With GPU decompression, Microsoft’s DirectStorage 1.1 improves PC game load times
With updated drivers, Nvidia, AMD, and Intel are supporting Microsoft’s DirectStorage initiatives. We just need the games to show up now. The most significant new feature in this week’s DirectStorage 1.1 release from Microsoft is GPU decompression for Windows PC games. The next logical step in an industry-wide initiative to …
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