March 16 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) on Thursday trumpeted its latest plans to put artificial intelligence into the hands of more users, answe

Microsoft unveils AI office Copilot in fast-moving race with Google

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2023-03-16 22:30:04

March 16 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) on Thursday trumpeted its latest plans to put artificial intelligence into the hands of more users, answering a spate of unveilings this week by its rival Google (GOOGL.O) with upgrades to its own widely used office software.

The technology company previewed a new AI "Copilot" for Microsoft 365, its product suite that includes Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and Outlook emails. First open to some 20 enterprises for testing, AI will offer a draft in these applications, speeding up content creation and freeing up workers' time, Microsoft said.

The Redmond, Washington-based company, outpacing peers through investments in ChatGPT's creator OpenAI, also showcased a new "business chat" experience that can pull data and perform tasks across applications on a user's written command.

"We believe this next generation of AI will unlock a new wave of productivity growth," Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chief executive, said in an online presentation.