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Microsoft's GitHub offers companies souped-up premium AI coding tool | Tech News – Business Standard

Microsoft's GitHub offers companies souped-up premium AI coding tool | Tech News – Business Standard

by | Feb 27, 2024 | Technology


In the coming months, GitHub also will let engineers use their employer’s own codebase to help autocomplete programs they’re working on, Dohmke said | Photo: Bloomberg


By Dina Bass and Jackie Davalos




Microsoft Corp.’s GitHub is releasing a pricier paid version of its artificial intelligence software development tool that can answer questions based on a company’s own programming code, a feature designed to help new engineers get up to speed and enable veteran coders to work faster.


GitHub, which lets programmers collaborate on coding projects, has been infusing AI into products and services in an effort to attract more subscribers. The new Copilot Enterprise will cost $39 per user per month and offer AI chat features that should make it easier for engineers to resolve issues, modernize programs and more.


“A lot of things when you join a big corporation are quite different to how you learned it in your previous job—you have to go there and read up on the practices,” GitHub Chief Executive Officer Thomas Dohmke said in an interview. “So you no longer have to do that. You can just ask questions and get the answers.”


In the coming months, GitHub also will let engineers use their employer’s own codebase to help autocomplete programs they’re working on, Dohmke said. That could be especially useful for financial services firms or other companies that use in-house programming languages that aren’t widely used elsewhere as well as customers with specific internal practices. Even Microsoft’s own Office desktop apps use the C and C++ language in ways that aren’t typically taught in coding school, he said.


Microsoft has been touting the successful adoption of GitHub Copilot, which relies on technology from partner OpenAI, in its quarterly earnings updates and has used the product as a template for overhauling most of its products, including Office and Windows, around similar technology and concepts. GitHub charges $19 a month per user for a more basic Copilot Business, which has 50,000 enterprise customers.

First Published: Feb 27 2024 | 10:50 PM IST



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Microsoft's new deal with France's Mistral AI comes under EU lens | World News – Business Standard

Microsoft's new deal with France's Mistral AI comes under EU lens | World News – Business Standard

by | Feb 27, 2024 | Technology


The EU last month started looking into Microsoft’s multibillion deal with San Francisco-based OpenAI, which could lead to a formal merger investigation


The European Union is looking into Microsoft’s partnership with French startup Mistral AI as part of its broader review of the booming generative artificial intelligence sector to see if it raises any competition concerns.


The 27-nation bloc’s executive commission said Tuesday in a brief statement that it’s analyzing the agreement between the two companies announced a day earlier. Microsoft declined to comment. Mistral did not respond to a request for comment.


Microsoft said Monday it was teaming up with Mistral through a 15 million euro ($16 million) investment in the French company, which emerged less than a year ago. The agreement could cut the US software giant’s reliance on ChatGPT-maker OpenAI for supplying the next wave of chatbots and other generative AI products.


The commission, the EU’s top antitrust enforcer, said it’s including the deal as part of its broader review of the generative AI market. It’s examining agreements between digital tech giants and generative AI developers and providers.


The EU last month started looking into Microsoft’s multibillion deal with San Francisco-based OpenAI, which could lead to a formal merger investigation.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Feb 27 2024 | 6:00 PM IST



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Qualcomm to democratise 5G in India with a chip aimed at sub- smartphone | Tech News – Business Standard

Qualcomm to democratise 5G in India with a chip aimed at sub-$99 smartphone | Tech News – Business Standard

by | Feb 27, 2024 | Technology



American semiconductor entity Qualcomm has announced plans to introduce a 5G chip targeted at entry-level smartphones within the sub-$99 price bracket. Committing to gigabit 5G speeds, the chip will facilitate 2-antenna 5G standalone (SA-2Rx) solution, enabling up to 5 times peak speeds compared to 4G within this price category. With the chip’s deployment, the company aims to extend 5G accessibility to 2.8 billion users globally. As per the company’s statement, the inaugural product featuring the chip is slated for release in the latter half of this year.


India purportedly ranks among the first few nations scheduled to receive a smartphone powered by Qualcomm’s SA-2Rx solution. According to a report on Money Control, Qualcomm is collaborating with India’s leading telecom operator, Reliance Jio, and select original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to develop the smartphone based on its entry-level chip.


Qualcomm unveiled plans to develop a 5G chip tailored for entry-tier smartphones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, US. Concurrently, the American semiconductor entity disclosed its latest advancements in on-device artificial intelligence (AI), intelligent computing, and wireless connectivity products. It introduced the Qualcomm AI Hub, serving as a repository of pre-optimised AI models for deployment on devices powered by Snapdragon and Qualcomm platforms.


Additionally, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF System, touted as its most sophisticated modem-to-antenna platform to date, featuring fully integrated NB-NTN satellite communications support for connectivity to non-terrestrial networks.


Qualcomm also presented the Qualcomm FastConnect 7900 chip, its inaugural connectivity solution integrating Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Ultra Wideband technologies onto a single chip. Engineered on a 6nm design, the chip boasts Wi-Fi 7 support, with commercial availability anticipated in the latter half of 2024.


Beyond the aforementioned, Qualcomm provided a sneak peek at multimodal AI models on Android phones and Windows PCs, both powered by its Snapdragon platforms. It also showcased generative AI features on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powered devices from partners such as Xiaomi, OPPO, and HONOR.

First Published: Feb 27 2024 | 4:02 PM IST



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India has over 800 mn internet users; most use tech for OTT services: Study | Tech News – Business Standard

India has over 800 mn internet users; most use tech for OTT services: Study | Tech News – Business Standard

by | Feb 27, 2024 | Technology


While activities such as internet commerce, digital payments, and online learning are more urban-centric, OTT, communication, social media, and online gaming are more “democratised”.


India has more than 800 million internet users and 86 per cent of them avail of over-the-top (OTT) audio and video services – the top use for the technology in the country, said a report on Tuesday.


More than 90 per cent of Indians use the internet daily and on average spend around 1.5 hours there, according to the Internet in India Report 2023. However, the growth of the internet user base is decelerating, according to the report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar.


Nationwide internet penetration grew 8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in 2023. In rural India, which has been driving internet growth for years, the expansion was 11 per cent YoY.


While activities such as internet commerce, digital payments, and online learning are more urban-centric, OTT, communication, social media, and online gaming are more “democratised”.


Communication (621 million users) and social media (575 million) are the second and third most popular services availed of by Indian internet users. OTT refers to audio or video streaming either from subscribed or user-generated content (UGC) platforms, while communication refers to text/voice/video chat or used email, video conferencing, etc., using an online website or app in the last year, said the report.


The rise of digital entertainment is bolstered by non-traditional devices (smart televisions and speakers, Amazon Firestick, Google Chromecast, Blu-Ray) which grew 58 per cent in 2021-23 nationwide. For the first time in the country, there are more people accessing video content over internet-only devices – a generation called ‘cord-cutters’ and numbering 208 million in 2023.


The report was released by Harsh Jain, chairman of IAMAI and chief executive officer and co-founder of Dream Sports, at the inaugural session of the India Digital Summit 2024, in Mumbai.

First Published: Feb 27 2024 | 2:12 PM IST



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Why did Google face backlash against Gemini AI in India and the world? | Tech News – Business Standard

Why did Google face backlash against Gemini AI in India and the world? | Tech News – Business Standard

by | Feb 27, 2024 | Technology


Alphabet’s Google commenced the provision of text-to-image functionality through its Gemini AI model, displacing Bard earlier this month. However, Gemini AI encountered an inconsistent start, with numerous users reporting inaccuracies in the images generated by the tool. Additionally, the AI erroneously interpreted generic prompts as sensitive and exhibited visible biases in certain instances. Consequently, Google opted to suspend the image generation capability of Gemini. While the tool is poised to make a return in the forthcoming weeks, a detailed analysis follows regarding the shortcomings of Gemini AI and Google’s subsequent actions.


The issue at hand


On February 1, Google unveiled the text-to-image feature on Bard, now rebranded as Gemini. Subsequently, a number of individuals took to X (formerly Twitter) to express discontent, citing the generation of erroneous results by the Gemini chatbot, notably demonstrating bias towards individuals of colour. The AI’s image generation tool purportedly displayed a tendency to favour individuals of colour, even in contexts where such bias was unwarranted. Some users on X claimed that the AI chatbot declined to produce images of “white people” at all. Furthermore, the tool allegedly produced inaccurate depictions of historically significant figures such as the “Founding Fathers of America” or the “Pope”.


In addition to facing criticism for its image generation capabilities, the AI tool encountered scrutiny for displaying biases in its text-based responses, similarly favouring individuals of colour.


India’s critique of Google’s Gemini


Google’s Gemini also elicited backlash in India due to a response wherein it asserted that the country’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has “been accused of implementing policies that some experts have characterised as fascist”. This response purportedly stemmed from a prompt “Is Modi a Fascist?” Interestingly, varying responses were generated for leaders of other nations. For instance, the chatbot responded that it was “a complex question with no simple answer” when prompted to address whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a fascist.


India’s response

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, asserted that Google had violated Indian IT laws and several provisions of the Criminal Code. In a post on X, he stated, “These are direct violations of Rule 3(1)(b) of Intermediary Rules (IT rules) of the IT act and violations of several provisions of the Criminal code.”


Google searches for answer


On February 21, Google issued an apology, expressing its commitment to promptly rectifying “these kinds of depictions”. The company acknowledged that while Gemini’s AI image generation typically encompasses a diverse range of individuals, it had evidently missed the mark.


Subsequently, on February 23, Google published a blog entitled “Gemini Image Generation Got It Wrong. We’ll Do Better.” In the blog, the software giant admitted to the error and temporarily suspended Gemini AI’s image generation of people capability.


More recently, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis stated, “We have taken the feature offline while we fix that. We are hoping to have that back online very shortly in the next couple of weeks.”

First Published: Feb 27 2024 | 1:45 PM IST





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With Microsoft's support, this French co is gearing up to challenge OpenAI | Tech News – Business Standard

With Microsoft's support, this French co is gearing up to challenge OpenAI | Tech News – Business Standard

by | Feb 27, 2024 | Technology


With ChatGPT and now Sora, Sam Altman-led OpenAI has disrupted the tech world with the use of artificial intelligence. Its GPT-4 is currently deemed the world’s most powerful large language model (LLM). It also has support from one of the biggest tech giants, Microsoft.


Now, a French startup is trying to mount a challenge to OpenAI.

Mistral AI was started by three French former researchers from Google and Meta – Chief Executive Officer Arthur Mensch, Chief Scientist Guillaume Lample and Chief Technology Officer Timothee Lacroix.


On February 26, Mistral AI announced the launch of its new LLM, Mistral-Large. According to a report by The Economist, this LLM is smaller than GPT-4 in terms of the number of parameters it uses, but it rivals OpenAI’s model in performance.


Mistral also announced a partnership with Microsoft, where the Redmond-based company will make the French startup’s artificial intelligence models available through its Azure cloud computing platform. Microsoft described Mistral AI as “an innovator and trailblazer”.


Mistral also released a public test version of its own chatbot, called Le Chat.


Mistral made a big splash by attracting big amounts of investor funding to give it a multibillion-dollar valuation just months after it was founded last spring. Its open-source approach to developing AI means it publicly releases key components of its models, in contrast to companies such as OpenAI, which closely guard them.


It has attracted investments from big investors, including leading Silicon Valley venture capitalists such as Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst, as well as Eric Schmidt, a former chief executive of Google.


According to The Economist, Mistral AI’s success now depends on a number of factors. First is whether it will be able to generate meaningful revenue. Second is how the world will regulate open-source models. And the third is how it will stand against the next model revealed by OpenAI. 

First Published: Feb 27 2024 | 12:07 PM IST



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