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☆ Microsoft Copilot's underperformance is the latest red flag for investments in AI
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-18 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The big storyA Copilot conundrumMicrosoft; Chelsea Jia Feng/BIMicrosoft's challenges with its flagship AI product could be another red flag for an industry with high hopes for the tech. Earlier this year, analysts at Barclays highlighted an under-the-radar risk to AI bets: the depreciation costs related to AI chips . A potential Trump trade plan beneficiary: US semiconductor jobs. If Trump's proposed trade plan is enacted, the American semiconductor industry could see hiring growth. Walmart might be just fine under Trump's proposed trade plan.

Persons: Copilot, Chelsea Jia Feng, Insider's Ashley Stewart, Satya Nadella didn't, doesn't, Ashley, It's, Sam Altman, Alistair Barr, Alyssa Powell, Jared Spataro, OpenAI, Biden, Carlyle, Will Matt Gaetz, Will Trump, Rob Arnott, Arnott, ANGELA WEISS, Trump's, Ilya Sutskever, Mira Murati, Rebecca Zisser, homebuyers, Trump, Bob Iger, Dan DeFrancesco, Grace Lett, Ella Hopkins, Hallam Bullock, Amanda Yen, New York.Milan Sehmbi Organizations: Business, Microsoft, Chelsea, Getty, Lumen Technologies, Barclays, Trump, Treasury, UFC, Republican, Getty Images, Elon, Spirit Airlines, JetBlue, Walmart, Walmart US, Shoppers, The Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Chicago, London, New York.Milan

☆ Inside Microsoft's struggles with Copilot
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

In September 2023, Microsoft's famously soft-spoken CEO, Satya Nadella, unveiled the company's flagship AI product, Copilot, with sweeping fanfare. Some of Microsoft's own employees and executives are privately concerned that Copilot won't be able to deliver on its ambitions. Copilot's struggles have created an opening for Microsoft's rivals, some of whom have seized on the opportunity to promote their own agendas. "Now, when Joe Blow logs into an account and kicks off Copilot, they can see everything," said one Microsoft employee familiar with customer complaints. As complaints and questions over Copilot mount, so does the pressure to justify Microsoft's unprecedented level of spending on AI.

Persons: Microsoft's, Satya Nadella, Gartner, Copilot, it'll, Copilot's, Marc Benioff, Benioff, Goldman Sachs, Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz, Ethan Miller, Jared Spataro, Spataro, —, Joe Blow, Joe, Nadella, Gary Marcus, Marcus, Wile, Coyote, Brontë, Judson Althoff, Jason Zander, Zander, We've, OpenAI, Tasos Katopodis, Steve Jobs Organizations: Microsoft, Venture, Getty, Goldman, BI, Fortune, Excel, Lumen Technologies, Honeywell, Gartner, Wall Street, Initiative, Department of Homeland Security, Employees, San Francisco, Software, Apple, Jobs Locations: Microsoft's, Copilot, New York City

☆ Microsoft to roll out new autonomous AI agents next month, fending off challenge from Salesforce
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-21 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Starting next month, they'll move into public preview, meaning more organizations can start building AI agents of their own. AI agents can act as virtual workers that can carry out a series of tasks without supervision. Microsoft demonstrated how its autonomous AI agents work. Competition is fierceMicrosoft is doubling down on AI agents at a time when competition is intensifying up in the red-hot artificial intelligence space. Microsoft 365 Copilot is a service offered by the tech giant that embeds generative AI into its suite of productivity apps.

Persons: Satya Nadella, Dimas Ardian, they'll, Jared Spataro, Salesforce, Zahra Bahrololoumi, —, Bahrololoumi, I'm, Marc Benioff Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, Microsoft, Copilot, Dynamics, McKinsey, CNBC, Crown Commercial Service Locations: Jakarta, Indonesia, Salesforce, London, U.S, San Francisco, Ireland, Copilot

☆ Salesforce tops earnings estimates, CFO Amy Weaver to step down
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-28 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The company also said Amy Weaver, its chief financial officer, will step down. With respect to guidance, Salesforce called for adjusted fiscal third-quarter earnings of $2.42 to $2.44 per share on $9.31 billion to $9.36 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected $2.43 in earnings per share on $9.41 billion in revenue. The LSEG consensus was $9.89 in adjusted earnings per share, with $37.84 billion in revenue. During the quarter, Salesforce said in the fall it will start testing an Einstein Copilot for Merchants that can compose product pages and promotions with a few words of human input.

Persons: Amy Weaver, Salesforce, Marc Benioff, Weaver, LSEG, Einstein, Benioff, Jared Spataro Organizations: Management, Merchants, Microsoft, CNBC

☆ Microsoft is considering a big new software bundle as it works out how to charge for AI, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The plan focuses on Microsoft 365, a popular suite of productivity software used by thousands of businesses. This is a big risk for the company because Microsoft 365 has been an important source of revenue and growth, even without fancy new AI capabilities. The problem was that Microsoft salespeople started to pitch E5 as the last business software suite that customers would need to buy. AdvertisementA "spiritual successor"The generative AI boom, and Microsoft's early lead here, have increased the chances that a new 365 bundle will emerge soon. Microsoft has new AI tools that it can integrate with 365 and use that to persuade customers to upgrade their software bundle.

Persons: —, Satya Nadella, Jared Spataro's, Microsoft salespeople, it's, Slack Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Business, Microsoft's Productivity, Processes, Sharepoint, European Commission, EU Locations: Capex

☆ Microsoft is considering an AI revamp of its 365 software bundles, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

☆ Microsoft made cuts to its Teams chat app to focus on its Copilot AI tools, leaked memo shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewMicrosoft reorganized teams under Jared Spataro, its head of "AI at Work," shifting focus to its Copilot AI products and reducing the number of employees working on its Teams chat app, according to an excerpt of an internal memo shared with Business Insider. "In early 2022, we recognized the pandemic as a once-in-a-generation opportunity and we surged on Teams to win," Spataro wrote. AdvertisementMicrosoft spokesman Frank Shaw confirmed Spataro is putting more resources behind Copilot, but said Teams remains a core priority and Copilot is a part of Teams. Copilot for Teams, Shaw said, is the company's most used and loved Copilot according to customer surveys and research and will continue to be a focus of future investments. Microsoft is leaning into the potential of its new Copilot tools, built on OpenAI's GPT models, which so far have mixed feedback from customers.

Persons: —, Jared Spataro, Spataro, Colette Stallbaumer, Frank Shaw, Shaw, OpenAI's, Ashley Stewart, Axel Springer Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Business

☆ Microsoft customers complain Copilot doesn't work as well as ChatGPT. Microsoft says they're not using it right.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

ChatGPT, OpenAI's artificial-intelligence chatbot, has set relatively high expectations for customers who are now trying out Microsoft Copilot tools for the first time. Feedback for the tool has been mixed to leaning positive so far, according to the Microsoft employees who spoke with BI. But Microsoft employees told BI the comparisons with ChatGPT kept coming up. Advertisement'Work' Copilot vs. 'web' CopilotA source of customer confusion is that there's a "work" version of Copilot for Microsoft 365 and a "web" version of the tool. For instance, a Microsoft customer may use the web version of Copilot to search publicly available information about a client.

Persons: —, ChatGPT, they're, ChatGPT Copilot, that's, Jared Spataro, Copilots, Spataro Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Business, SharePoint, Copilot

☆ Microsoft's pricey AI assistant Copilot is giving some early adopters buyer's remorse
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some early adopters of Microsoft's AI assistant, Copilot, are less than impressed, the Wall Street Journal reports. The first users balked at the hefty costs and said the AI would hallucinate wrong answers. AdvertisementMicrosoft is making a big bet on AI with its newly launched generative AI assistant Copilot, but some early adopters have been less than impressed. Others said the AI hallucinated wrong answers or calculated spreadsheets wrong, according to the outlet. And earlier this month, the techgiant rolled out Copilot internally, Business Insider's Ashley Stewart reported at the time.

Persons: —, Copilot, Copilot —, It's, wasn't, Jared Spataro, Spataro, Insider's Ashley Stewart, Satya Nadella Organizations: Wall Street, Microsoft, Service, Excel, Chemicals, Dow, Lenovo, Super Locations: Copilot, OpenAI

☆ Microsoft announces more Copilot AI features in Outlook, PowerPoint and Teams
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft on Wednesday announced a slew of new capabilities coming to the Copilot artificial intelligence add-on for its Microsoft 365 productivity applications. There are concerns about whether Copilot for Microsoft 365 is worth $30 per person per month. Copilot will be able to create Teams chat messages and come up with tone changes. During Teams meetings, the Whiteboard tool can automatically create visualizations of ideas that people discuss. In PowerPoint, Copilot will be able to create slides that include AI-generated images based on brand assets, with the help of the Microsoft Designer app.

Persons: OpenAI, Jared Spataro, Dana Organizations: Microsoft, Wednesday, Adobe, Google, CNBC Locations: Seattle

☆ Microsoft’s Hotly Anticipated Generative AI Work Assistant Set to Debut
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

“We are using this AI inflection point to redefine our role,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, after the company’s recent results. Photo: annegret hilse/ReutersStarting Wednesday, businesses gain access to Microsoft ’s enterprise Copilot, one of the highest-profile AI tools to hit the market. CIOs say they are brushing up on employee training and building business cases to ensure executive buy-in on the tool. Copilot leverages generative AI across the Microsoft 365 suite by doing most things you might ask a business assistant to do, like summarizing video calls, writing draft responses to emails, and transforming Word documents into PowerPoint presentations, said Jared Spataro, corporate vice president of Modern Work and Business Applications at Microsoft.

Persons: ”, Satya Nadella, annegret, Jared Spataro Organizations: Microsoft, Modern

☆ CIOs Assess Whether Microsoft’s AI Copilot Justifies Premium Price
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

“We are using this AI inflection point to redefine our role,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, after the company’s recent results. Photo: annegret hilse/ReutersAfter months of speculation about how generative AI might transform business, Microsoft is poised to make its AI Copilot available through its 365 platform, a test of whether CIOs believe the technology will generate enough value to justify a premium price. CIOs say they are eager to test out the AI assistant, even though the cost is a consideration for some. Copilot leverages generative AI across the Microsoft 365 suite by doing most things you might ask a business assistant to do, like summarizing video calls, writing draft responses to emails and transforming Word documents into PowerPoint presentations, said Jared Spataro, corporate vice president of Modern Work and Business Applications at Microsoft.

Persons: ”, Satya Nadella, annegret, CIOs, Jared Spataro Organizations: Microsoft, Modern

The company also said it would make a more secure version of its Bing search engine available immediately to businesses, aiming to address their data-protection concerns, grow their interest in AI and compete more with Google. The voluntary upgrade is on top of publicly listed, monthly plans ranging from $12.50 per user to $57, meaning the copilot could triple costs for some Microsoft customers. Unlike the public Bing that millions of web surfers have accessed in recent months, the enterprise version will not allow any viewing or saving of user data to train underlying technology. Asked if Bing users were unprotected until now, Spataro said Microsoft had made its privacy policies clear and was eager to bring AI to consumers. It may also draw customers to Microsoft 365 Copilot, an AI upgrade giving access to business data and compliance controls.

Persons: Jared Spataro, Spataro, Bing, Jeffrey Dastin, Stephen Coates Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Bing Chat, Thomson Locations: copilot, Palo Alto, Calif

☆ Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Nvidia, First Republic, Whirlpool, Meta, FedEx & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here are Friday's biggest calls on Wall Street: JPMorgan upgrades Chubb to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the insurance company is defensive. CFRA upgrade Whirlpool to buy from hold CFRA said in its upgrade of the stock that shares are attractive. Citi initiates Bumble as buy Citi said the dating app continues to take market share. Citi reiterates Nvidia as buy Citi said it's bullish on Nvidia's adoption of AI. Citi reiterates Meta as buy Citi said it likes Meta's improved operating leverage. "

☆ Microsoft adds OpenAI technology to Word and Excel
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Photographer: Charles Pertwee/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesMicrosoft is bringing generative artificial intelligence technologies like the popular ChatGPT chatting app to its Microsoft 365 suite of business software. features, dubbed Copilot, will be available in some of the company's most popular business apps like Word, PowerPoint and Excel. The Copilot technology is built upon a type of artificial intelligence software known as a large language model, or LLM. Microsoft executives demonstrated some of the capabilities of its Copilot tool on Thursday during an online presentation. In February, Microsoft debuted a new version of its Bing search engine that included a chatbot powered by OpenAI's GPT-4 language technology.

☆ Tesla workers reportedly say the company tracks their keystrokes to make sure they're actively working, the latest complaint of workplace monitoring
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Grace Kay | Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tesla workers in New York say their keystrokes are monitored to ensure they're actively working, Bloomberg reported. The workers emailed Elon Musk to inform him they were campaigning for a union, the publication said. Insider reported last year that Tesla began tracking workers' office attendance using an automated system to track when staff badged in or out of its offices. Last year, The New York Times reported that about eight out of the ten largest private US employers track staff productivity. Do you work for Tesla or have some insight to share?

☆ Microsoft executives say it's 'wrong' for managers to spy on remote employees' mouse clicks and keystrokes: 'That's measuring heat rather than outcome'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said managers are plagued by "productivity paranoia" amid remote work. NYT previously reported some companies are measuring key strokes and mouse click to spy on staff. "Leaders think their employees are not productive, whereas employees think they are being productive and in many cases even feel burnt out," Nadella said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday. The publication detailed multiple methods companies had employed to measure workers' productivity, from tracking mouse clicks and keystrokes to having staff take random photos to insure the workers were at their computers. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that workers have been turning down raises in favor of working from home.

☆ 85% of managers still don't trust that their employees are actually working remotely, even though virtual meetings and hours worked have ballooned
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Employees don't feel the same, finding their schedules filled with more meetings and email demands. Some 85% of leaders say the shift to hybrid work means they can't tell if their workers are actually doing any work, according to a Microsoft survey released today. Microsoft used its own workplace tools, such as Teams, to look at whether remote and hybrid employees are actually doing more or less work. A separate survey by Beamery this year found more than two-thirds of employees think their boss views them as less productive when they're working from home. But economists tend to disagree and say that employees are actually working harder remotely.

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