With the recent reports that Microsoft intends to increase its investment in OpenAI and, subsequently, ChatGPT, and with current AI integrations, it looks inevitable it will incorporate the much-touted language chatbot into the mix of Microsoft 365 and Teams.
Microsoft poured a ton of money into OpenAI in 2019, reportedly investing $1 billion in a small San Francisco-based company and adding another $2 billion over the next two years.
At the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos this week, Microsoft CEO and Chairman Satya Nadella spoke about how the company is giving access to OpenAI tools and the coding capabilities of ChatGPT. Allaying fears about the new technology, he said;
“One of the things that we think a lot about is how to deploy this technology to empower human beings to do more.”
Adaption and Platform Shifts
Access to DALL-E and ChatGPT
On Monday, it announced that it would give more access to its customers to the DALL-E 2 and ChatGPT models.
In a tweet, Nadella announced: “ChatGPT is coming soon to the Azure OpenAI Service, which is now generally available, as we help customers apply the world’s most advanced AI models to their business imperatives.”
This means that the tech firm is ready to monetise its developments, a key question since OpenAI, the start-up it has invested heavily in, is still a non-profit. It will do this by integrating AI tech into its cloud computing platform Azure and intends to avail it to end users and business users. Nadella advises that there will need to be a rethink and said in Davos:
“The workload requires a complete rethink of the computing infrastructure. We did the hard work and retrained these models.”
“When you look at what is coming, these are non-linear developments showing merchant capability. I’m not saying this is the last model; they will be more to come. But these are becoming platforms that I can truly make a difference.”
Cloudflare Partnership with Azure AD
For the last year, the tech giant has been especially quick to reiterate how security conscious it is, notably at Ignite and with it being the focus of its Windows 11 big update. It’s as if it is seeking to reassure that the future flow of data will be secure. To this end, Microsoft announced a partnership with IT service management firm Cloudflare and the Azure Active Directory to make zero trust security easier to deploy.
The new integration means businesses can install zero trust security without changing code.
“A cloud-native zero trust security model has become an absolute necessity as enterprises continue to adopt a cloud-first strategy.”
Matthew Prince, CEO and co-founder at Cloudflare, agreed and said: “When I speak with CIOs, I continue to hear that their number one concern remains security, closely followed by adapting to the new hybrid world.”
What Can Azure and Cloudflare Customers Do Now?
- Deploy Zero Trust security without changing a single line of code:- Joint customers can now choose to define specific rules in either Azure AD or Cloudflare Access. and determine who can access particular applications based on various factors such as user risk level, device platform, location, and apply them to both products without changing a line of code.
- Automatically isolate high-risk users using industry-leading browser isolation technology:- Integrating Cloudflare’s remote browser isolation with Azure AD for high-risk users such as temporary employees who are proactively locked into remote browser sessions for added security.
- Save the IT team a fortnight of manual work:- Cloudflare Access integrates directly with Azure AD using a Cross-Domain Identity Management (SCIM) system. Groups are automatically synced between Cloudflare and Azure Active Directory platforms and groups, saving the IT team hundreds of manual hours.
- Keep sensitive government data off the public internet:- By connecting the Azure Government Cloud to Cloudflare’s global network via the Secure Hybrid Access (SHA) program, government customers (GCC) can protect sensitive traffic away from the public internet. In addition, GCC users can define and enforce granular rules that determine who can access what using joint solutions from their dashboards without any code changes.
The Language of Change
In its development and preparation of the integration of AI models across Microsoft 365 — now in an app version for smartphones and devices — Microsoft has chosen excited language to present itself as a leader of innovation and difference-makers, with its customers the agents of that change. This was typified in his statement to employees when Nadella declared: “When I think about this moment in time, the start of 2023, it’s showtime – for our industry and Microsoft.
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