Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it has formed a Microsoft AI and Research Group, bringing together Microsoft’s research organization with more than 5,000 computer scientists and engineers focused on the company’s AI product efforts.
The artificial intelligence and machine learning industry is estimated to grow to $70 billion by 2020 from just $8.2 billion in 2013, according to a Bank of America report.
The new group will be led by Harry Shum, a 20-year Microsoft veteran whose career has spanned leadership roles across Microsoft Research and Bing engineering.
“We live in a time when digital technology is transforming our lives, businesses and the world, but also generating an exponential growth in data and information,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “At Microsoft, we are focused on empowering both people and organizations, by democratizing access to intelligence to help solve our most pressing challenges. To do this, we are infusing AI into everything we deliver across our computing platforms and experiences.”
