Microsoft Invests in Open AI Fearing Google’s Superiority: An internal email revealed Microsoft’s concerns about Alphabet’s
advancements in artificial intelligence training,
with the U.S. Department of Justice accusing Google of a monopolistic stance that delayed the launch of AI applications like “ChatGPT.”

Content

Microsoft’s Readiness
Internal Discussions

Efforts of Competing Companies

Investment in Artificial Intelligence

The Email

Microsoft’s Readiness

Microsoft’s readiness to heavily invest in “Open AI” and partner with it stems from feeling significantly behind Google
in the field of artificial intelligence,
according to an internal email published on Tuesday as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust case against the search giant.

In a 2019 email to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and co-founder Bill Gates,
Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott expressed “great concern”
about the gap between Alphabet’s efforts in training AI models and Microsoft’s efforts.

Internal Discussions

Internal discussions revealed how top executives are aware of their lack of infrastructure
and the development speed necessary to catch up with companies like “Open AI” and Google’s “DeepMind.”

The email was published Tuesday evening after media institutions,
including The New York Times and Bloomberg, intervened in the well-known case to increase public access to information.

The U.S. Department of Justice stated that the launch of “ChatGPT” by “Open AI”
and other innovations could have happened years earlier if not for Google’s monopoly in the online search market.

Scott, who also serves as the Vice President of AI at Microsoft,
noted that Google’s search engine improved due to Alphabet’s progress in artificial intelligence.

Efforts of Competing Companies

The Microsoft executive admitted overlooking some early efforts by competing companies in the field of AI,
adding in his email: “We are several years behind the competition in machine learning.”
Large parts of the “Thoughts on Open AI” email are still withheld from publication.

Nadella endorsed Scott’s email and forwarded it to Amy Hood,
the company’s CFO, commenting that it explains “why I want to do this.”

Investment in Artificial Intelligence

Microsoft has invested over $13 billion in its partnership and support for “Open AI,”
Utilizing the startup’s generative AI technology to enhance and improve its Bing search engine service,
the Edge internet browsing application, and,
Most importantly, the “Copilot” AI service will be integrated into the Windows operating system.

Nadella has elevated the AI race to a priority within the company
and appointed Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of “DeepMind,” to head Microsoft’s consumer AI unit.

The Email

Nadella responded to questions about the email when he testified last fall, saying,
“In terms of online search, we wanted to ensure that we could think about
innovation in search using large language models like those developed by ‘Open AI,’
but he later added that “this investment did not materialize with our narrow focus on the search area only.”

Microsoft and Google refused to release the email when journalists requested it last year,
citing it would reveal sensitive commercial information. The media pushed for its publication,
and last week, Judge Amit Mehta ordered the companies to provide a redacted version,
noting that the content of the email “sheds light on Google’s defense regarding
the relative investments of both Google and Microsoft in the online search field.”

Google and the Department of Justice will present their closing arguments in the case on Thursday and Friday.
Judge Mehta is expected to issue his decision later this year.

Microsoft Invests in “Open AI” Fearing Google’s Superiority

Microsoft Invests in Open AI Fearing Google&#8217;s Superiority

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Microsoft Invests in Open AI Fearing Google’s Superiority