Microsoft unveils AI blueprint at Build 2024

[Courtesy of AFP Yonhap]

U.S. tech giant Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday unveiled an enhanced artificial intelligence (AI)-powered assistant that can operate without direct prompts or commands.

“The pursuit has always been about how to build computers that understand us, instead of us having to understand computers, and I feel like we really are close to that real breakthrough,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at Build 2024, the company’s annual developer conference.

Microsoft noted that customers using its AI service, Copilot, would now be able to use OpenAI’s latest model, GPT-4o.

Amid swift progress in AI, driven by major U.S. tech companies, the European Union (EU), in the meantime, approved landmark rules on high-risk AI systems on Tuesday, the first of its kind in the world.

The AI Act bans the use of facial recognition AI for random image collection and imposes fines of up to 7 percent of global revenue for severe violations.