Microsoft is reimagining cloud infrastructure to ensure optimisation across every layer of its hardware and software stack with over 100 news announcements unveiled at Microsoft Ignite 2023. The advancements touch on multiple layers of an AI-forward strategy, from adoption to productivity to security, all designed to empower Microsoft customers, partners, and developers to reshape the future of work.
New innovations across Microsoft’s datacenter fleet include ‘Microsoft Azure Maia’, an AI Accelerator chip designed to run cloud-based training and inferencing for AI workloads such as OpenAI models, Bing, GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT. ‘Microsoft Azure Cobalt’ is a cloud-native chip based on Arm architecture optimised for performance, power efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Both chips will start to roll out early next year.
Microsoft also announced the general availability of Azure Boost, a system that makes storage and networking faster by moving those processes off the host servers onto purpose-built hardware and software. The company is also expanding partnerships with its silicon providers to help meet the growing demand for efficient, scalable and sustainable compute power and the needs of customers eager to take advantage of the latest cloud and AI breakthroughs.
Ihab Foudeh, General Manager, Microsoft Middle East, said that organisations of all sizes across the Middle East are looking to leverage the latest technologies to help them add more value to their business. “The cutting-edge advancements unveiled at Microsoft Ignite 2023 mark a pivotal moment in the evolution of cloud infrastructure. These innovations are a testament to Microsoft’s commitment to democratising access to the latest technologies to empower businesses, most notably AI and Co-pilot capabilities, to tackle pressing challenges while preparing for a more digitally enabled future. The advancements hold immense promise for the region as a digital hub, and we are excited to be a partner on its transformative journey.”
Microsoft Copilot, the company’s everyday AI companion tool, is undergoing a paradigm shift based on the learnings of Microsoft’s Early Access Program and other research channels. Copilot for Microsoft 365, which recently became available for enterprises, now features the new Microsoft Copilot Dashboard that offers insights to show customers how Copilot is impacting their organisations. This is accompanied by new personalisation capabilities that help Copilot offer responses that are tailored to a user’s unique preferences and role within the organisation.
Also unveiled was Microsoft Copilot for Azure, an AI companion that helps IT teams gain new insights into their workloads, unlock untapped Azure functionality, and orchestrate tasks across both cloud and edge. In line with Microsoft’s efforts to further simplify the user experience and make Copilot more accessible to everyone, Bing Chat and Bing Chat Enterprise will now simply become Copilot.
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