News Analysis India

Tag: Microsoft

  • Bill Gates Praises Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella For THIS Reason: Find Out Here |

    New Delhi: Bill Gates, The co-founder of Microsoft and renowned philanthropist has recently joined Nikhil Kamath for a podcast series. Nikhil Kamath is the co-founder of Zerodha and it was the first podcast series “People by WTF.” In this episode, the two entrepreneurs discussed a variety of topics including artificial intelligence, the debate between capitalism and socialism and Gates’ enduring connection with India.

    During the podcast Gates reflected on his relationship with India, stating, “I’ve had a fabulous relationship with India starting with the Microsoft experience where we hired some very smart IT graduates, and brought them to Seattle.” (Also Read: Google Pixel 8 Gets Massive Discount Of Rs 14,000 On THIS Platform; Check Discounted Price And Specs)

    He further recalled, “Later, they went back and created a development centre for us that’s now in four locations, with 25,000 people. Of course, a lot of the amazing people I worked with in Microsoft were hired from India.” (Also Read: TRAI Allots New 160 Mobile Phone Series To Key Financial Entities To Curb Spams)

    Bill Gates praised Microsoft’s current CEO, Satya Nadella and said “At the top of that list is Satya, who is now doing a great job as CEO. In my digital-first career, the connection with India was enjoyable and greatly influenced what the company achieved. It was during that time I realised, ‘Oh wow, India is a land of contrasts, first class in many ways, but still with a lot of poverty and challenges.’

    Bill Gates also discussed the legal systems in India and the US, pointing out that, “Believe me, the legal things done in the US won’t apply here. But, just imagine, if you could make everybody in the legal system four times more productive, that changes justice because right now the backlog is kind of nightmarish. And here, you know, comes a potential solution.”

  • Microsoft Faces Complaints In EU Over Violating Children’s Data Privacy |

    London: Privacy rights organisation NOYB on Tuesday lodged two complaints with Austria’s data protection authority against tech giant Microsoft for allegedly violating children’s data protection rights.

    The non-profit organisation said that Microsoft’s ‘365 Education’ services violate children’s data protection rights. When pupils wanted to exercise their General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rights, Microsoft said schools were the “controller” for their data.

    “However, the schools have no control over the systems,” said Noyb. Microsoft, alleged the complaint, is trying to contractually dump most of its legal responsibilities under the GDPR on schools that provide Microsoft 365 Education services to their pupils or students.

    “This means, for example, that access requests to Microsoft go unanswered – while schools have no realistic way of complying with such requests because they don’t hold the necessary data,” the non-profit mentioned. 

    Maartje de Graaf, data protection lawyer at noyb, said that this take-it-or-leave-it approach by software vendors such as Microsoft is shifting all GDPR responsibilities to schools. “Microsoft holds all the key information about data processing in its software but is pointing the finger at schools when it comes to exercising rights. Schools have no way of complying with the transparency and information obligations,” de Graaf said.

    Microsoft provides such “vague information” that even a qualified lawyer can’t fully understand how the company processes personal data in Microsoft 365 Education. “It is almost impossible for children or their parents to uncover the extent of Microsoft’s data collection,” said de Graaf.

  • EU tells Microsoft To Provide Information On GenAI Risks In Bing Search Else Face Fine |

    The regulator can also impose fines of up to 1 per cent of the provider’s total annual income or worldwide turnover for incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information in response to a request for information.

    |Last Updated: May 17, 2024, 06:30 PM IST|Source: IANS

  • Indian Tech Leaders Stand Behind Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal In His Fight Against Microsoft And LinkedIn |

    New Delhi: Indian tech industry leaders have come out in support of Ola Founder and CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, after his tirade against Microsoft-owned LinkedIn for deleting his posts and “bullying Indians” into agreeing with the Big Tech platforms or cancelling them out.

    Homegrown IT software company Zoho’s CEO Sridhar Vembu agreed with Aggarwal, saying “We in India have to strongly resist this woke imperialism”. “It is best understood as a fanatical religious doctrine that masquerades as a socio-political movement,” Vembu posted on X social media platform.

    Edtech company Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal earlier posted that this is so “f***** up on LinkedIn’s part”. An angry Ola CEO on Saturday announced the termination of Microsoft Azure cloud’s services and moved the entire workload of his company to his own AI venture called Krutrim. (Also Read: Get Free Wi-Fi While Travelling In India; Check This Government Scheme, Benefits, Steps To Avail Facility)

    “We’ve decided to move our entire workload out of Azure to our own Krutrim cloud within the next week,” he said in a blog post. When reached, LinkedIn or Microsoft did not comment on Aggarwal’s blog post.

    The tussle began when Ola CEO shared his thoughts on gender pronouns, with a LinkedIn post on “pronoun illness”. The LinkedIn AI chatbot used “they” and “their” to address the founder. The professional networking platform later deleted Aggarwal’s posts “without notifying him”, leading to an outburst from the Ola founder.

    “Proud of you Bhavish. When CEOs like you show the way, I’m sure many will emulate you. It is one thing to coax people to be inclusive but quite another to use bullying and cancelling techniques to impose a fake inclusiveness with dubious benefits. May Dharma always guide you,” Author Sahana Singh posted on X. (Also Read: What Is ‘iPhone Finger’? Is Your Smartphone Changing Your Body? Here’s Everything You Need To Know)

    Aggarwal has said he will work with the domestic developer community to build a digital public infrastructure (DPI) social media framework and the only ‘community guidelines’ should be the Indian law. “Woke” was a word earlier used within Black communities in the US to refer to an “awareness of inequality”. It is now being frequently used in political parlance to describe anything that appears too liberal or progressive. 

  • Microsoft’s Xbox To Shut Down Several Gaming Studios: Know Why

    Take-Two Interactive also disclosed plans to shut down two subsidiary studios as part of its restructuring. 

  • Microsoft To Invest $1.7 Bn In Cloud, AI Infrastructure In Indonesia |

    New Delhi: Microsoft on Tuesday announced that it will invest $1.7 billion over the next four years in new cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in Indonesia. The company also announced AI skilling opportunities for 840,000 people in the country and support for the nation’s growing developer community.

    This marks the single largest investment in Microsoft’s 29-year history in the country. “The investments we are announcing today — spanning digital infrastructure, skilling, and support for developers – will help Indonesia thrive in this new era,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft.

    According to the company, this investment will enable Microsoft to meet the growing demand for cloud computing services in Indonesia, as well as allow the country to capitalise on the significant economic and productivity opportunities presented by the latest AI technology.

    “We aim to empower Indonesians with the infrastructure and skills needed for the AI era, aligning with our national vision for digital prowess. It’s a crucial step towards making Indonesia a hub for digital talent and innovation,” said Dharma Simorangkir, President Director of Microsoft Indonesia.

    Meanwhile, Microsoft announced plans to provide AI skilling opportunities for 2.5 million people in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states by 2025. The tech giant will provide this training with the help of governments, nonprofit and corporate organisations, and communities in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

    The initiative builds on a range of existing Microsoft skills programmes in the region, which have already helped many people land jobs or make career changes, especially women, who are still under-represented in the tech sector, the company said.

  • Bezos And Nvidia Team Up With OpenAI To Invest In Humanoid Robot Startup: Report |

    New Delhi: Prominent figures in the technology industry including Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com and Nvidia, are making investments in the startup Figure AI. This startup specializes in the development of human-like robots, as per Bloomberg News report.

    According to the report, Figure AI, supported by OpenAI and Microsoft along with other investors, is in the process of raising approximately $675 million in a funding round. This funding round values the company at around $2 billion before the investment. (Also Read: Google Announces Shutdown Of Google Pay In US; Find Out The Reason Here)

    Bezos had committed $100 million through his company Explore Investments LLC, while Microsoft is contributing $95 million. Nvidia and an Amazon-related fund are each offering $50 million in investment, as per report. (Also Read: Former Google Employee Makes Shocking Allegations, Says ‘Did Not Get Promotion Due To Skin Colour’)

    Investments in startups focused on artificial intelligence have surged following the release of OpenAI’s widely popular chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022. Investors see potential in these startups, betting that they could surpass larger competitors in the field.

    According to the report, OpenAI, which had previously considered acquiring Figure is now investing $5 million in the startup. Backers include Intel’s venture capital arm, LG Innotek, Samsung’s investment group, as well as venture firms Parkway Venture Capital and Align Ventures.

    Other investors in the startup include ARK Venture Fund, Aliya Capital Partners, and Tamarack, as mentioned in the report. When approached for comment, Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Intel chose not to respond, while Figure AI and other mentioned entities did not immediately reply to requests for comment from Reuters.

    Figure, a company located in Sunnyvale, California, raised $70 million from investors in its first external funding round. This company specializes in creating humanoid robots with broad capabilities, suitable for diverse environments such as warehouses and retail settings. The investment was spearheaded by Parkway Venture Capital. (With Input From Reuters )

  • Microsoft To Expand AI And Cloud Infrastructure In Spain, Says Vice Chair Brad Smith

    This announcement follows closely after Microsoft’s recent commitment of 3.45 billion dollars towards AI-centric investments in Germany.

  • OpenAI, Meta And Other Tech Giants Sign Effort To Fight AI Election Interference |

    New Delhi: A group of 20 tech companies announced on Friday they have agreed to work together to prevent deceptive artificial-intelligence content from interfering with elections across the globe this year.

    The rapid growth of generative artificial intelligence (AI), which can create text, images and video in seconds in response to prompts, has heightened fears that the new technology could be used to sway major elections this year, as more than half of the world’s population is set to head to the polls. (Also Read: OpenAI Can’t Register GPT As Trademark, Rules US Patent Office)

    Signatories of the tech accord, which was announced at the Munich Security Conference, include companies that are building generative AI models used to create content, including OpenAI, Microsoft and Adobe. Other signatories include social media platforms that will face the challenge of keeping harmful content off their sites, such as Meta Platforms, TikTok and X, formerly known as Twitter. (Also Read: You Can Now Remix YouTube Music Videos In Shorts – Here’s How!)

    The agreement includes commitments to collaborate on developing tools for detecting misleading AI-generated images, video and audio, creating public awareness campaigns to educate voters on deceptive content and taking action on such content on their services.

    Technology to identify AI-generated content or certify its origin could include watermarking or embedding metadata, the companies said. The accord did not specify a timeline for meeting the commitments or how each company would implement them.

    “I think the utility of this (accord) is the breadth of the companies signing up to it,” said Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta Platforms. “It’s all good and well if individual platforms develop new policies of detection, provenance, labeling, watermarking and so on, but unless there is a wider commitment to do so in a shared interoperable way, we’re going to be stuck with a hodgepodge of different commitments,” Clegg said.

    Generative AI is already being used to influence politics and even convince people not to vote. In January, a robocall using fake audio of U.S. President Joe Biden circulated to New Hampshire voters, urging them to stay home during the state’s presidential primary election.

    Despite the popularity of text-generation tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the tech companies will focus on preventing harmful effects of AI photos, videos and audio, partly because people tend to have more skepticism with text, said Dana Rao, Adobe’s chief trust officer, in an interview.

    “There’s an emotional connection to audio, video and images,” he said. “Your brain is wired to believe that kind of media.”

  • Hackers Utilizing ChatGPT To Enhance Cyberattacks, Microsoft And OpenAI Reveal |

    New Delhi: Microsoft and OpenAI announced on Wednesday that hackers are utilizing large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT to enhance their current cyber-attack methods. The companies have identified efforts by groups supported by Russia, North Korea, Iran, and China to utilize tools such as ChatGPT for investigating targets and developing social engineering tactics.

    In partnership with Microsoft Threat Intelligence, OpenAI intervened to disrupt five state-affiliated actors who aimed to utilize AI services to facilitate malicious cyber operations. (Also Read: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Tries Apple Vision Pro, Shares Video On Instagram)

    “We disrupted two China-affiliated threat actors known as Charcoal Typhoon and Salmon Typhoon; the Iran-affiliated threat actor known as Crimson Sandstorm; the North Korea-affiliated actor known as Emerald Sleet; and the Russia-affiliated actor known as Forest Blizzard,” said Sam Altman-run company. (Also Read: OpenAI’s ChatGPT Is Testing New ‘Memory’ Feature With Select Users)

    The identified OpenAI accounts associated with these actors were terminated. These bad actors sought to use OpenAI services for querying open-source information, translating, finding coding errors, and running basic coding tasks.

    “Cybercrime groups, nation-state threat actors, and other adversaries are exploring and testing different AI technologies as they emerge, in an attempt to understand potential value to their operations and the security controls they may need to circumvent,” Microsoft said in a statement.

    While attackers will remain interested in AI and probe technologies’ current capabilities and security controls, it’s important to keep these risks in context, said the company.

    “As always, hygiene practices such as multifactor authentication (MFA) and Zero Trust defenses are essential because attackers may use AI-based tools to improve their existing cyberattacks that rely on social engineering and finding unsecured devices and accounts,” the tech giant noted. (With IANS Inputs)