Tag: Press Releases

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Microsoft announces new AI solutions for Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit: a game-changer for fundraising and volunteer engagement

REDMOND, Wash. — May 15, 2023 — Microsoft Corp. on Monday is announcing a suite of new AI solutions and improvements to Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit that are designed to transform the nonprofit industry and how fundraisers engage with donors, manage campaigns and optimize operations. In addition, the company announced a limited private preview for nonprofits to experience a new AI-powered fundraising propensity model. Within the preview, participating nonprofits will be able to test new AI tools that give fundraisers the power to do predictive forecasting of fundraising goals with data modeling and identify donors most likely to donate to a campaign, cause or major gift.

“Simply put, AI can and will be a game-changer for nonprofits and fundraisers,” said Justin Spelhaug, Vice President and Global Head, Tech for Social Impact at Microsoft. “With these new AI solutions, we aim to empower nonprofits and fundraisers to achieve more and to create a more positive and rewarding experience for donors.”

In today’s economic environment, nonprofits are consistently challenged to make budgets go further and do more with fewer resources. Since 2020, many fundraisers have seen an ongoing decline in the overall number of donors giving to causes. And although data can help nonprofits identify and prioritize the most promising prospects, predict donor behavior and measure fundraising outcomes, access to data and the ability to form actionable insights based on fundraising analytics is a major roadblock for many organizations. According to one study from the National Council of Nonprofits, barely 18% of nonprofits reported having all the data they need and using it in nearly every decision they make.

Microsoft Cloud for industries offers powerful, integrated and uniquely tailored industry solutions and workflows designed to allow organizations to realize breakthrough value and more easily achieve success, enabling them to unleash value quickly, build for the future and exceed expectations. And now, with AI as a copilot, Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit is delivering new capabilities to help fundraisers leverage data in a powerful way to attract, retain and grow their donor base.

New tools include:

  • New Fundraising dashboard. To optimize fundraising and help nonprofit leaders understand performance and to quickly respond to a changing environment for charitable giving, Microsoft is introducing a new Fundraising performance dashboard. The dashboard uses real-time data to deliver interactive views of campaign performance, donor conversion and other fundraising analytics, all built on Power BI’s industry-leading data visualization platform.
  • Dynamics 365 Marketing joins Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit. Dynamics 365 Marketing streamlines the generation of communications for donors and volunteers, including newsletters, program information and other communications. Because it takes advantage of the Nonprofit Common Data Model, integration of data to help drive more personalized engagement is seamless and easy.
  • Microsoft Viva Sales AI Copilot and Microsoft Teams Premium. AI capabilities are now included in the Fundraising and Engagement tools of Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit.
    • Viva Sales will help nonprofits personalize, stay on top of and deepen engagement with donors by providing AI capabilities that assist in crafting email responses based on customer relationship management (CRM) data, update CRM records, summarize Teams calls and more.
    • We’ve also integrated AI-based capabilities of Teams Premium into Fundraising and Engagement that will help nonprofits improve productivity and make sure donors, constituents and staff get the greatest benefit from meetings.

With these new tools, Microsoft is delivering a robust set of solutions for end-to-end fundraising — from fundraising strategy and planning, fundraising campaign execution and measurement, gift processing and reconciliation, all the way through to gift acknowledgement.

New fundraising modeling

In addition to the AI new capabilities in Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, Microsoft is developing an AI-based donor propensity model to help nonprofits identify constituents most likely to donate or engage with a campaign or cause based on predictive donor behavior. Interested nonprofits can sign up to participate in this private preview and participating nonprofits will help improve the model through contributions of anonymized data and testing. This solution is intended to be generally available later this year.

Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit is tailored specifically for the nonprofit sector, designed to reduce the time nonprofit groups spend managing overhead and delivering automation and efficiency on common and critical workflows. These new AI solutions are designed to help nonprofits focus on mission-critical activities and are built on Microsoft’s trusted cloud platform, Azure, which offers enhanced security, scalability and reliability. They are also integrated with Microsoft’s existing solutions for nonprofits, such as Microsoft 365 — Outlook, SharePoint and Teams — as well as Power Platform, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and LinkedIn.

To learn more about them and sign up for updates, visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/nonprofits/ai-solutions.

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

 

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Introducing the Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program and the 2023 Work Trend Index

Microsoft is bringing Microsoft 365 Copilot to more customers and releasing new research that shows how AI will change the way we work

REDMOND, Wash. — May 9, 2023 — Earlier this year, Microsoft Corp. introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot, which will bring powerful new generative AI capabilities to apps millions of people use every day like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Microsoft Teams and more.

On Tuesday, the company announced it is expanding access to the Microsoft 365 Copilot preview and introducing new features. The company also released new data and insights from its 2023 Work Trend Index report: “Will AI Fix Work?”

The data shows that the pace of work has accelerated faster than humans can keep up, and it’s impacting innovation. Next-generation AI will lift the weight of work. Organizations that move first to embrace AI will break the cycle — increasing creativity and productivity for everyone.

“This new generation of AI will remove the drudgery of work and unleash creativity,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “There’s an enormous opportunity for AI-powered tools to help alleviate digital debt, build AI aptitude and empower employees.”

The report shares three key insights for business leaders as they look to understand and responsibly adopt AI for their organization:

  1. Digital debt is costing us innovation: We’re all carrying digital debt: The volume of data, emails and chats has outpaced our ability to process it all. There is an opportunity to make our existing communications more productive. Every minute spent managing this digital debt is a minute not spent on creative work. Sixty-four percent of employees don’t have enough time and energy to get their work done and those employees are 3.5x more likely to say they struggle with being innovative or thinking strategically. Of time spent in Microsoft 365, the average person spends 57% communicating and only 43% creating.
  2. There’s a new AI-employee alliance: For employees, the promise of relief outweighs job loss fears and managers are looking to empower employees with AI, not replace. Forty-nine percent of people say they’re worried AI will replace their jobs, but even more — 70% — would delegate as much work as possible to AI in order to lessen their workloads. In fact, leaders are 2x more likely to say that AI would be most valuable in their workplace by boosting productivity rather than cutting headcount.
  3. Every employee needs AI aptitude: Every employee, not just AI experts, will need new core competencies such as prompt engineering in their day to day. Eighty-two percent of leaders anticipate employees will need new skills in the AI era, and as of March 2023, jobs on LinkedIn in the U.S. mentioning GPT have increased by 79% year over year. This new, in-demand and AI-centric skillset will have ripple effects across everything from resumes to job postings.

“The pace and volume of work have increased exponentially and are outpacing humans’ ability to keep up,” said Jared Spataro, CVP, Modern Work and Business Applications. “In a world where creativity is the new productivity, digital debt is more than an inconvenience — it’s a threat to innovation. Next-generation AI will lift the weight of work and free us all to focus on the work that matters.”

To empower businesses in the AI era, Microsoft is introducing the Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program with an initial wave of 600 enterprise customers worldwide in an invitation-only paid preview program. In addition, the following new capabilities will be added to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Viva:

  • Copilot in Whiteboard will make Microsoft Teams meetings and brainstorms more creative and effective. Using natural language, you can ask Copilot to generate ideas, organize ideas into themes, create designs that bring ideas to life, and summarize Whiteboard content.
  • By integrating DALL-E, OpenAI’s image generator, into Copilot in PowerPoint, users will be able to ask Copilot to create custom images to support their content.
  • Copilot in Outlook will offer coaching tips and suggestions on clarity, sentiment and tone to help users write more effective emails and communicate more confidently.
  • Copilot in OneNote will use prompts to draft plans, generate ideas, create lists and organize information to help customers find what they need easily.
  • Copilot in Viva Learning will use a natural language chat interface to help users create a personalized learning journey including designing upskilling paths, discovering relevant learning resources and scheduling time for assigned trainings.

To help every customer get AI-ready, Microsoft is also introducing the Semantic Index for Copilot, a new capability we’re starting to roll out to all Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 customers.

To learn more, visit the Official Microsoft Blog, Microsoft 365 Blog and the new Work Trend Index.

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

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Microsoft and Epic expand strategic collaboration with integration of Azure OpenAI Service

REDMOND, Wash., and VERONA, Wis. — April 17, 2023 — Microsoft Corp. and Epic on Monday announced they are expanding their long-standing strategic collaboration to develop and integrate generative AI into healthcare by combining the scale and power of Azure OpenAI Service1 with Epic’s industry-leading electronic health record (EHR) software. The collaboration expands the long-standing partnership, which includes enabling organizations to run Epic environments on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

This co-innovation is focused on delivering a comprehensive array of generative AI-powered solutions integrated with Epic’s EHR to increase productivity, enhance patient care and improve financial integrity of health systems globally. One of the initial solutions is already underway, with UC San Diego Health, UW Health in Madison, Wisconsin, and Stanford Health Care among the first organizations starting to deploy enhancements to automatically draft message responses.

“A good use of technology simplifies things related to workforce and workflow,” said Chero Goswami, chief information officer at UW Health. “Integrating generative AI into some of our daily workflows will increase productivity for many of our providers, allowing them to focus on the clinical duties that truly require their attention.”

Another solution will bring natural language queries and interactive data analysis to SlicerDicer, Epic’s self-service reporting tool, helping clinical leaders explore data in a conversational and intuitive way.

“Our exploration of OpenAI’s GPT-4 has shown the potential to increase the power and accessibility of self-service reporting through SlicerDicer, making it easier for healthcare organizations to identify operational improvements, including ways to reduce costs and to find answers to questions locally and in a broader context,” said Seth Hain, senior vice president of research and development at Epic.

Leading industry experts have highlighted the urgent need for health systems and hospitals to address intense pressures on costs and margins. Approximately half of U.S. hospitals finished 2022 with negative margins as widespread workforce shortages and increased labor expenses, as well as supply disruptions and inflationary effects, caused expenses to meaningfully outpace revenue increases.2 Industry participants recognize that achieving long-term financial sustainability through increased productivity and technological efficiency is a mission-critical strategic priority.3

“The urgent and critical challenges facing healthcare systems and their providers demand a comprehensive approach combining Azure OpenAI Service with Epic’s industry-leading technology,” said Eric Boyd, corporate vice president, AI Platform, Microsoft. “Our expanded partnership builds on a long history of collaboration between Microsoft, Nuance and Epic, including our work to help healthcare organizations migrate their Epic environments to Azure. Together we can help providers deliver significant clinical and business outcomes leveraging the power of the Microsoft Cloud and Epic.”

When creating technologies that can change the world, Microsoft believes organizations need to ensure that the technology is used responsibly. Microsoft is committed to creating responsible AI by design that is guided by a core set of principles: fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability. Microsoft is putting those principles into practice across the company to develop and deploy AI that will have a positive impact on society, taking a cross-company approach through cutting-edge research, best-of-breed engineering systems, and excellence in policy and governance.

Visit the Microsoft, Nuance and Epic booths at the 2023 HIMSS Global Health Conference in Chicago to learn more about new and enhanced AI-powered solutions and areas of shared innovation.

About Epic

Epic develops software to help people get well, help people stay well, and help future generations be healthier. Visit www.epic.com/about.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

1 Azure and Azure OpenAI Service, including any of its component technologies, is intended for general-purpose use and is not intended or made available: (1) as a medical device; (2) for the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of a disease; or (3) as a substitute for the professional clinical advice, opinion, or judgment of a treating healthcare professional. Azure and Azure OpenAI Service has not been evaluated by the U.S. FDA or similar regulatory agency as a medical device, and users of Azure and Azure OpenAI Service are responsible for ensuring the regulatory compliance of their use or any solution they build using Azure and Azure OpenAI

2 “National Hospital Flash Report,” report by Kaufman Hall, January 2023; “The Current State of Hospital Finances: Fall 2022 Update,” report by the American Hospital Association, Sept. 15, 2022

3 “Health Care Has a Purpose and Productivity Crisis,” report by Boston Consulting Group, Dec. 5, 2022; “2023 forecast: 7 immediate and long-term priorities for hospital leaders,” Fierce Healthcare, Dec. 21, 2022; “Positioning for Competitive Advantage and Financial Resilience,” Health Management Academy, February 2022

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

Anna McCann, Epic Systems, (608) 271-9000, [email protected]

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

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Unilever goes cloud-only: Accenture and Microsoft complete one of the largest cloud migrations in consumer goods industry

London and Redmond, Wash., April 3, 2023 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Unilever (LSE: ULVR) have completed one of the largest and most complex cloud migrations in the consumer goods industry. The migration has helped Unilever – whose 400+ brands are used by 3.4 billion people daily – become a cloud-only enterprise.

Accenture and Microsoft, together with their joint venture, Avanade, worked closely with Unilever to deliver the transformation in just 18 months with minimal disruption to business operations. It has not only helped ensure resilient, secure and optimized operations for Unilever but also provides a platform to drive innovation and growth.

With Azure as its primary cloud platform, Unilever will be able to accelerate product launches, enhance customer service and improve operational efficiency. Additionally, the move to Azure aligns with Unilever’s sustainability commitment by helping the company to build on the progress it’s making towards curbing carbon emissions.

The creation of an agile, high-performing digital core that delivers greater efficiency will provide Unilever with increased computing power to explore new ways of working. Unilever’s adoption of a cloud-only approach will significantly improve business resilience, strengthening security and enhancing control of the IT landscape.

Accenture, Microsoft and Unilever have set a new benchmark for cloud transformation in the consumer goods industry, including:

  • Unlocking new innovation opportunities, such as utilizing industrial metaverse technologies that use real-time data from factory digital twins to accelerate (light house) factories of the future and build upon existing cloud data platform to power insights and predictions.
  • Accelerating the ability to identify trends and make decisions faster. By leveraging the power of the cloud, artificial intelligence and its strong data foundation, Unilever can forecast and adapt to changing market needs faster than ever before. For example, this will enable Unilever to achieve perpetual breakthroughs in research and development, allowing for new and innovative products to be developed faster and with greater efficiency.
  • Embracing the latest in AI to drive better experiences by applying Azure OpenAI Service across Unilever’s business to drive increased automation, enabling better customer and employee experiences.
  • Reducing its carbon footprint by exiting its datacenters and introducing Green Cloud Advisor, which facilitates Unilever’s transition to a more sustainable and efficient cloud environment.

Steve McCrystal, Chief Enterprise & Technology Officer, Unilever said, “Unilever is a truly data-powered organization. We’re using advanced analytics to make better-informed decisions quicker than ever before. Working with Accenture and Microsoft on this global transformation project, we can respond to ever-changing consumer needs faster, allocate our resources more effectively to focus on what drives growth, and bring services and products to the market faster.”

Nicole van Det, Senior Managing Director and Global Account Executive, Accenture said, “the path to business resilience now and in the future is through total enterprise reinvention – which involves the transformation of every part of the business – with cloud at the core. With access to the full continuum of cloud capabilities, including generative AI, Unilever has the elasticity to drive innovation faster, accelerate growth and continue to set the pace as a digital powerhouse and leader in its industry.”

“Together with Accenture, we’re proud to expand our longstanding partnership with Unilever,” said Judson Althoff, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, Microsoft. “With Microsoft Azure as its cloud foundation, Unilever’s end-to-end digitization will enable rapid innovation across its entire business. From embracing the industrial metaverse across its factories to reimagining how its lines of business can do more with tools like Azure OpenAI Service, Unilever’s digital-first approach will empower it to grow resiliently and exceed the industry’s pace of innovation.”

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About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent and innovation led company with 738,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. We are uniquely able to deliver tangible outcomes because of our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Accenture Song. These capabilities, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients succeed and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition and Ice Cream products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 3.4 billion people every day. We have 148,000 employees and generated sales of €60.1 billion in 2022. Our vision is to be the global leader in sustainable business and to demonstrate how our purpose led, future-fit business model drives superior performance. We have a long tradition of being a progressive, responsible business. The Unilever Compass, our sustainable business strategy, is set out to help us deliver superior performance and drive sustainable and responsible growth, while: – improving the health of the planet; – improving people’s health, confidence and wellbeing; – and contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive world. For more information about Unilever and our brands, please visit www.unilever.com

# # #

Media Contacts:

Unilever: [email protected]

Accenture: Tara Burns, London, UK, [email protected]

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

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With Security Copilot, Microsoft brings the power of AI to cyberdefense

Trained across security and networking disciplines and armed with trillions of data signals, Security Copilot dramatically increases the reach, speed and effectiveness of any security team

REDMOND, Wash. — March 28, 2023 — Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced it is bringing the next generation of AI to cybersecurity with the launch of Microsoft Security Copilot, giving defenders a much-needed tool to quickly detect and respond to threats and better understand the threat landscape overall. Security Copilot will combine Microsoft’s vast threat intelligence footprint with industry-leading expertise to augment the work of security professionals through an easy-to-use AI assistant.

“Today the odds remain stacked against cybersecurity professionals. Too often, they fight an asymmetric battle against relentless and sophisticated attackers,” said Vasu Jakkal, corporate vice president, Microsoft Security. “With Security Copilot, we are shifting the balance of power into our favor. Security Copilot is the first and only generative AI security product enabling defenders to move at the speed and scale of AI.”

Security Copilot is designed to work seamlessly with security teams, empowering defenders to see what is happening in their environment, learn from existing intelligence, correlate threat activity, and make more informed, efficient decisions at machine speed.

Simplifying complexity and accelerating responses

In a world where there are 1,287 password attacks per second, fragmented tools and infrastructure have not been enough to stop attackers. And although attacks have increased 67% over the past five years, the security industry has not been able to hire enough cyberrisk professionals to keep pace. This has led to defenders who are overwhelmed searching for well-disguised attacks within an impossibly large volume of expanding network traffic and other signals.

Security Copilot will simplify complexity and amplify the capabilities of security teams by summarizing and making sense of threat intelligence, helping defenders see through the noise of web traffic and identify malicious activity.

It will also help security teams catch what others miss by correlating and summarizing data on attacks, prioritizing incidents and recommending the best course of action to swiftly remediate diverse threats, in time.

Continually learning to augment the expertise of security teams

Security Copilot will also continually learn and improve to help ensure that security teams are operating with the latest knowledge of attackers, their tactics, techniques and procedures. The product will provide ongoing access to the most advanced OpenAI models to support demanding security tasks and applications. Its visibility into threats is powered by both the customer organization’s security data and Microsoft’s vast threat analysis footprint.

These capabilities can empower security teams of any size with the skills and abilities of much larger organizations. In addition, Security Copilot helps address skills shortages in cybersecurity by bridging knowledge gaps and enhancing workflows, threat actor profiles and incident reporting across teams.

“Advancing the state of security requires both people and technology — human ingenuity paired with the most advanced tools that help apply human expertise at speed and scale,” said Charlie Bell, executive vice president, Microsoft Security. “With Security Copilot we are building a future where every defender is empowered with the tools and technologies necessary to make the world a safer place.”

Built on the Microsoft platform and industry-leading threat intelligence

Microsoft is uniquely qualified to help customers explore and adapt AI to boost their cybersecurity defenses. Microsoft Security is actively tracking more than 50 ransomware gangs as well as more than 250 unique nation-state cybercriminal organizations, and receives 65 trillion threat signals every day. Microsoft technology blocks more than 25 billion brute-forced password theft attempts every second, and more than 8,000 security professionals at Microsoft analyze more security signals than almost any other company — on average Microsoft’s Security Operations Center analysts utilize over 100 different data sources.

Acquisitions like RiskIQ and Miburo give Microsoft breath of signal and depth intelligence on threat actors that no one else has. Security Copilot also integrates natively with a growing list of Microsoft Security products, such as Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender, to help customers create an end-to-end experience across their entire security program.

Availability

Microsoft Security Copilot is currently available through private preview. More information can be found at https://news.microsoft.com/AI-Security-2023.

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

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Internews, Microsoft, USAID to develop Media Viability Accelerator

New public-private partnership will deliver data-driven digital platform to help independent news media become financially self-sufficient

WASHINGTON — March 27, 2023 — Internews, Microsoft Corp. and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new public-private partnership to develop a Media Viability Accelerator to help independent news outlets become more financially sustainable. The announcement, made in advance of the 2023 Summit for Democracy, illustrates a shared commitment among government, business and civil society to shore up democracy’s fourth estate.

“Media around the globe face a dual threat: repression and bankruptcy,” said Jeanne Bourgault, president and CEO of Internews, a nonprofit that supports independent media in 100 countries. “Thousands of media outlets have closed around the world in the past decade due to disruption of traditional media business models. In service of democracy, the Media Viability Accelerator will help reverse that trend by assisting media to survive and become more competitive.”

The Media Viability Accelerator is a web-based platform that will help news media become more financially sustainable by accessing solutions and market insights to inform effective business strategies. Participating media outlets will, free of charge, learn from a community of peers, access a multilingual tool that visualizes media performance data, and receive actionable daily alerts based on thousands of market and media sources. Media outlets, businesses, governments and nonprofits interested in participating can sign up.

“Independent journalism is essential to a healthy and vibrant democracy, but technology has unfortunately eroded traditional ad-based business models,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president. “Our hope is that this AI-powered data aggregation and visualization tool will offer media outlets the kind of market intelligence they need to be financially successful.”

In a three-way memorandum of understanding that underlies the partnership:

  • USAID agreed to support the development and growth of the Media Viability Accelerator platform, and set and monitor high-level objectives for the project.
  • Microsoft will contribute expertise in data analysis, visualization dashboards, cloud services and AI and agreed to provide in-kind technical support to develop and sustain the Media Viability Accelerator platform.
  • Internews, in concert with other media development organizations, agreed to register up to 500 media outlet users within six months, with a focus on media from low-resource countries and emerging democracies.

Other organizations supporting the effort include Free Press Unlimited, Global Forum for Media Development, IREX, SembraMedia and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“Independent media is both a public good and a private enterprise, but it has faced significant financial headwinds of late,” said Samantha Power, USAID administrator. “The U.S. government will use every tool at our disposal to support independent media, including by drawing on the expertise of our partners in the private sector. The Media Viability Accelerator is a model public-private partnership that will help keep independent media outlets around the world financially sustainable so they can continue their vital work.”

About Internews

Internews is a nonprofit that supports independent media in 100 countries. Internews trains journalists and digital rights practitioners, tackles disinformation, and offers business expertise to help media outlets thrive financially. For 40 years, it has helped partners reach millions of people with trustworthy information that saves lives, improves livelihoods, and holds institutions accountable.

About USAID

On behalf of the American people, the U.S. Agency for International Development promotes and demonstrates democratic values abroad, and advances a free, peaceful, and prosperous world. In support of America’s foreign policy, USAID leads the U.S. Government’s international development and disaster assistance through partnerships and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people emerge from humanitarian crises and progress beyond assistance.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

Massimiliano Colonna, Director of Communications for Internews, (202) 768-7539, [email protected]

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

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The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center and Microsoft announce collaboration

Support from Microsoft’s Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact program will expand the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center’s educational sustainability programming for entrepreneurs

March 21, 2023, San Francisco, CA – The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, a non-profit committed to growing inclusion and access for entrepreneurs worldwide, today announced a new collaboration with Microsoft Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact, which supports entrepreneurs working to solve our world’s most pressing challenges by providing access to technology, expertise, visibility and connections. Together they will expand educational programming and resources available to the Center’s global community.

This work will support a range of the Center’s bootcamps, classes, and mentorship-focused programming, including its signature Milestone Makers program, a free 12-week incubator-style program launched in 2016 to provide a cohort of early- to mid-stage entrepreneurs with individualized tracks of business mentoring, coaching, training, and resources.

Synergistically, Microsoft’s Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact and the Center’s Milestone Makers program each already focus on supporting entrepreneurs working towards the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for urgent collective action.

“Supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs has a multiplier effect on all communities, and doubly so when you’re supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs who are championing Sustainable Development Goals,” said Nicola Corzine, Executive Director of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center. “We applaud Microsoft for leveraging their platform to drive purpose-driven social enterprises and for their collaboration with us.”

Jean-Philippe Courtois, Executive Vice President and President, National Transformation Partnerships at Microsoft, stated, “Through Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact, we are working to make Microsoft the most trusted technology partner for Positive Impact Entrepreneurs, helping entrepreneurs scale and accelerate their social impact. We know that when the world does well, we do well. By using our platform, ecosystem and scale, we aim to unleash social tech innovation with our customers, partners and beyond. Positive Impact Entrepreneurs have so much to bring to the table for businesses. This work with the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center opens a whole new community of Positive Impact Entrepreneurs for us to support and help drive digital transformation for the common good.”

About the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center:

The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center is a non-profit committed to growing inclusion and access for entrepreneurs worldwide. The Center meets the real time needs of entrepreneurs through educational programming and then shares its learnings with policy-leaders, capital allocators and academic institutions. For more information please visit: http://thecenter.nasdaq.org/

About Microsoft Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact:

Microsoft Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact helps entrepreneurs to scale their businesses and accelerate their impact. Recognizing that digitalization is key to scale, Microsoft acts as a trusted technology partner for positive impact entrepreneurs. The Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact program provides access to dedicated mentors, community activities, and workshops as well as a Founders Hub with personalized technical tools and business resources for positive impact startups. Leveraging our network of local partners around the world, we have created a global ecosystem that drives digital transformation for the benefit of all, including our customers. https://www.microsoft.com/socialentrepreneurship

About Microsoft:

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, press only: 

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

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Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot: your copilot for work

Harnessing the power of AI, Microsoft 365 Copilot turns your words into the most powerful productivity tool on the planet

REDMOND, Wash. — March 16, 2023 — On Thursday, Microsoft Corp. announced it is bringing the power of next-generation AI to its workplace productivity tools with Microsoft 365 Copilot. Currently in testing with select commercial customers, Copilot combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with business data and the Microsoft 365 apps, to unleash creativity, unlock productivity and uplevel skills.

Customers will experience Microsoft 365 Copilot in two ways

Microsoft 365 Copilot isn’t just a better way of doing the same things. It’s an entirely new way of working. Copilot will work alongside Microsoft 365 customers in two ways:

  • First, it is embedded in the Microsoft 365 apps people use every day — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams and more.
  • Today, the company also announced an entirely new experience: Business Chat. Business Chat works across the LLM, the Microsoft 365 apps, and a customer’s calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings and contacts to do things that people weren’t able to do before. With natural language prompts like “tell my team how we updated the product strategy,” Business Chat will generate a status update based on the morning’s meetings, emails and chat threads.

With Copilot, the customer is always in control. Customers decide what to keep, modify or discard. With these new tools, people can be more creative in Word, more analytical in Excel, more expressive in PowerPoint, more productive in Outlook and more collaborative in Teams.

“Copilot combines the power of large language models with your data and apps to turn your words into the most powerful productivity tool on the planet,” said Jared Spataro, corporate vice president, Modern Work and Business Applications, Microsoft. “By grounding in your business content and context, Copilot delivers results that are relevant and actionable. It’s enterprise-ready, built on Microsoft’s comprehensive approach to security, compliance, privacy and responsible AI. Copilot marks a new era of computing that will fundamentally transform the way we work.”

A whole new way to work

Microsoft 365 Copilot is seamlessly integrated in the apps people use every day, helping them stay in the flow of work and freeing them to focus more on the task at hand and less on the busy work.

  • Copilot in Word writes, edits, summarizes and creates right alongside people as they work.
  • Copilot in PowerPoint enables the creation process by turning ideas into a designed presentation through natural language commands.
  • Copilot in Excel helps unlock insights, identify trends or create professional-looking data visualizations in a fraction of the time.
  • Copilot in Outlook can help synthesize and manage the inbox to allow more time to be spent on actually communicating.
  • Copilot in Teams makes meetings more productive with real-time summaries and action items directly in the context of the conversation.
  • Copilot in Power Platform will help developers of all skill levels accelerate and streamline development with low-code tools with the introduction of two new capabilities within Power Apps and Power Virtual Agents.
  • Business Chat brings together data from across documents, presentations, email, calendar, notes and contacts to help summarize chats, write emails, find key dates or even write a plan based on other project files.

Microsoft has built Microsoft 365 Copilot with its existing commitments to data security and privacy in the enterprise, grounded in AI principles and Responsible AI Standard and decades of research. Copilot’s large language models are not trained on customer content or on individual prompts. Microsoft 365 Copilot will deliver enterprise-ready AI at scale.

Earlier this month Microsoft announced Dynamics 365 Copilot as the world’s first AI Copilot in both CRM and ERP to bring the next-generation AI to every line of business. And now, Copilot is coming to all Microsoft productivity apps — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, Microsoft Viva, Power Platform and more. Specifics on pricing and licensing will be shared soon. Microsoft 365 Copilot is already being tested with a small group of customers to get the critical feedback required to improve these models as they scale.

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

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Microsoft announces new lead independent director and quarterly dividend

REDMOND, Wash. — March 14, 2023 — Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced the appointment of Sandra E. (Sandi) Peterson, Operating Partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, as Lead Independent Director. She succeeds John W. Thompson, who has served in the roles of Lead Independent Director or Board Chair since 2012.

Microsoft also announced its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.68 per share. The dividend is payable June 8, 2023, to shareholders of record on May 18, 2023. The ex-dividend date will be May 17, 2023.

“I’ve always valued John’s counsel and leadership and am grateful for his contributions as lead independent director and the strategic perspective he’ll continue to provide to Microsoft going forward,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “Since joining our Board, the guidance and insights Sandi has provided have been invaluable. I’m delighted that she will continue to bring a wealth of expertise and leadership to Microsoft as lead independent director.”

The Microsoft Board also made the following appointments:

  • The independent directors reelected Satya Nadella to the role of Chairman.
  • Sandra E. Peterson has been appointed chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee and remains a member of the Compensation Committee.
  • Carlos A. Rodriguez has been appointed to the Compensation Committee and will serve as chair of the committee.
  • John W. Thompson remains a member of the Governance and Nominating Committee.

The Microsoft Board consists of 12 members: Sandra E. Peterson, Lead Independent Director, Microsoft Corporation; Reid G. Hoffman, General Partner, Greylock Partners; Hugh F. Johnston, Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer, PepsiCo, Inc.; Teri L. List, former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Gap, Inc.; Satya Nadella, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft Corporation; Penny S. Pritzker, Founder and Chairman, PSP Partners; Carlos A. Rodriguez, Executive Chair, ADP, Inc.; Charles W. Scharf, Chief Executive Officer and President, Wells Fargo & Company; John W. Stanton, Chairman, Trilogy Partnerships; John W. Thompson, Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners; Emma N. Walmsley, Chief Executive Officer, GSK; and Padmasree Warrior, Founder, President & CEO, Fable Group Inc.

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, financial analysts and investors only:
Investor Relations, Microsoft, (425) 706-4400

For more information, press only:
Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers, and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. Shareholder and financial information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor.

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Microsoft and NVIDIA announce expansive new gaming deal

Partnership will bring blockbuster lineup of Xbox games, including Minecraft and Activision titles like Call of Duty, to NVIDIA GeForce NOW cloud gaming service

REDMOND, Wash., and SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Feb. 21, 2023 — On Tuesday, Microsoft and NVIDIA announced the companies have agreed to a 10-year partnership to bring Xbox PC games to the NVIDIA® GeForce NOW™ cloud gaming service, which has more than 25 million members in over 100 countries.

The agreement will enable gamers to stream Xbox PC titles from GeForce NOW to PCs, macOS, Chromebooks, smartphones and other devices. It will also enable Activision Blizzard PC titles, such as Call of Duty, to be streamed on GeForce NOW after Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision closes.

“Xbox remains committed to giving people more choice and finding ways to expand how people play,” said Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. “This partnership will help grow NVIDIA’s catalog of titles to include games like Call of Duty, while giving developers more ways to offer streaming games. We are excited to offer gamers more ways to play the games they love.”

“Combining the incredibly rich catalog of Xbox first party games with GeForce NOW’s high-performance streaming capabilities will propel cloud gaming into a mainstream offering that appeals to gamers at all levels of interest and experience,” said Jeff Fisher, senior vice president for GeForce at NVIDIA. “Through this partnership, more of the world’s most popular titles will now be available from the cloud with just a click, playable by millions more gamers.”

The partnership delivers increased choice to gamers and resolves NVIDIA’s concerns with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. NVIDIA therefore is offering its full support for regulatory approval of the acquisition.

Microsoft and NVIDIA will begin work immediately to integrate Xbox PC games into GeForce NOW, so that GeForce NOW members can stream PC games they buy in the Windows Store, including third-party partner titles where the publisher has granted streaming rights to NVIDIA. Xbox PC games currently available in third-party stores like Steam or Epic Games Store will also be able to be streamed through GeForce NOW.

Visit the GeForce NOW website for more information on the service and follow along every GFN Thursday for the latest news, including release dates for upcoming Microsoft game titles coming to the GeForce NOW service.

The agreement was announced today at a Microsoft press conference in Brussels, Belgium. Microsoft also shared today that it finalized a 10-year agreement to bring the latest version of Call of Duty to the Nintendo platform following the merger with Activision.

About NVIDIA

Since its founding in 1993, NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been a pioneer in accelerated computing. The company’s invention of the GPU in 1999 sparked the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined computer graphics, ignited the era of modern AI and is fueling the creation of the metaverse. NVIDIA is now a full-stack computing company with data-center-scale offerings that are reshaping industry. More information at https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

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For further information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations

WE Communications for Microsoft

+1 425-638-7777

[email protected]

Jordan Dodge

Director, PR & Communications

NVIDIA Corporation

+1-408-506-6849

[email protected]

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the benefits, impact, and performance of NVIDIA’s products and technologies, including GeForce NOW; and NVIDIA’s partnership with Microsoft and the benefits and impact there of are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic conditions; NVIDIA’s reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test its products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to NVIDIA’s existing product and technologies; market acceptance of NVIDIA’s products or NVIDIA’s partners’ products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of NVIDIA’s products or technologies when integrated into systems; as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the most recent reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on NVIDIA’s website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

© 2023 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce and GeForce NOW are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice.