Video games are big business in 2023, and that’s only going to accelerate. As the Verge Reports, Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Acquisition has been approved by EU regulators – one of tech’s biggest companies has been given the green light to strong-arm the rest of the industry, and it seems like the end user might be the one that pays. What does Microsoft acquiring Activision mean for you?

Microsoft’s macro bid

In the world of console-based, mainstream gaming, there are three key players: Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony; Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S, and Sony’s PlayStation 5 mark the ninth generation of consumer-grade, home-based consoles. Since Microsoft entered the sandbox with the original Xbox in 2001, it has vied for supremacy with Sony’s PlayStation. Each generation is a new battleground – the Xbox 360, for the longest time, eclipsed its competitor. The Xbox One? Not so much – this time around, Microsoft seems to think that monopolising the industry is the way to go.

As reported by the Verge, the company’s $68.7 billion deal (that’s £54.9 billion in GBP) to acquire Activision Blizzard has been approved by regulators in the EU, just weeks after regulators in the UK blocked the same acquisition. The European Commission has concluded that Microsoft, “would have no incentive to refuse to distribute Activision’s games to Sony.”

“Even if Microsoft did decide to withdraw Activision’s games from the PlayStation, this would not significantly harm competition in the consoles market.” – The European Commission

The future, however, of gaming, doesn’t seem to be anchored wholly in home consoles found underneath your television, and EU regulators found that even if Microsoft’s big bid doesn’t affect where customers can play their games, it could disrupt the distribution of PC and video game through cloud gaming services.

Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard – beyond the box

For years, the Call of Duty series, one of Activision’s big earners, has dominated as a multi-platform behemoth, across both PlayStation and Xbox brands. In 2023, Sony has enjoyed a 44.1% market share, compared to Microsoft’s paltry 16% – many users feared that Microsoft might be attempting to simply close the door on Sony’s Call of Duty player base. Microsoft, however, seems to be setting its sights on a future fight.

The European Commission has identified a remedy in its judgement: decade-long licensing deals that Microsoft has offered to competitors in the space, to assuage concerns that Call of Duty might jump ship. What’s more, a free license to customers in the European Union would allow end-users to stream all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games via any cloud game streaming service of their choice.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), however, had a less optimistic view of Microsoft’s colossal offer, expecting that the acquisition could in fact lead to “reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers.” Nintendo and Sony have traditionally had recognisable mascots in their camps – think Mario and Zelda, and Crash Bandicoot and Lara Croft. Sony’s crop, however, due to deft deals between publishers, has found its way to other platforms. In the walled garden home console space, players have often baulked at these forced, timed exclusivities, with many opting to simply go without that shell out for another overpriced system.

With luck, Microsoft’s Xbox division will stay true to its word and not erect such roadblocks in the future.

The nature of the beast

Ultimately, this is a bid for supremacy in a burgeoning tech space, rather than the ninth console generation, and it’s here that the CMA’s worries lie. Activision is now known as Activision Blizzard because of a similar acquisition – just on a much smaller scale. In 2016, the company acquired King Digital, the mobile game developer responsible for the impossibly popular Candy Crush series.

The company’s chief executive Bobby Kotick castigated the CMA’s move against the acquisition last month, stating he believed it was evidence that the UK was “closed for business”. As Microsoft’s walled garden grows, however, it lends credence to the CMA’s foresight. At this rate, Microsoft could end up with all the toys in the toy box, and if that happens, gamers will be forced to get on board with the Xbox brand, or go find their fun elsewhere.

Source: The Verge

What do you think of this proposed new deal? Is it good news for the end-user? Have your say below!

Want to see what else Microsoft is up to? Click here: Microsoft’s CoPilot AI: A Game-Changer for Developers.

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Want Microsoft’s suite of tools to work for you?

The company’s burgeoning CoPilot AI technology is making waves in the world of software development, and it’s expecting you, the end user, to reap the benefits in the long run. Recently, it integrated CoPilot across its 365 cloud service and called upon household names such as Goodyear and General Motors to provide feedback on the digital tools. Over on their official blog, Microsoft welcomed hundreds more companies to the fold to trial a private, paid trial of CoPilot.  So, what is CoPilot? You’ve come to the right place to find out.

Remember Microsoft Word’s ever-ready paperclip?

Imagine its friendly prompts, but supercharged. Could your company be one of the next wave to benefit from this wholly modern tech?

As reported by The Register, CoPilot AI is built on OpenAI’s current Codex model and aims to make coding faster and more efficient by providing developers with AI-generated suggestions – this development promises to further revolutionise the world of coding, and empower digital workers of all levels to exceed. Let’s delve into the features of Microsoft’s CoPilot AI and discuss how it can enhance software development processes.

A Game-Changer for Developers

CoPilot AI is designed to provide developers with real-time, context-aware suggestions while they code. By analyzing the codebase and understanding the developer’s intent, CoPilot can offer helpful recommendations, making the coding process more efficient and less prone to human error; it doesn’t threaten human ingenuity when it comes to coding… it promises to empower it. The artificial intelligence (AI) system can generate code snippets, suggest corrections, and even offer alternative approaches to solving problems. 

• Time-saving: With its smart suggestions, CoPilot AI can help developers save time by eliminating the need for manual research or browsing through documentation.
• Improved code quality: CoPilot AI can detect potential errors and suggest corrections, leading to higher quality and more reliable code.

• Enhanced productivity: By assisting with mundane and repetitive tasks, CoPilot AI enables developers to focus on more critical aspects of their projects, ultimately boosting productivity.
• Accelerated learning: CoPilot AI can be an invaluable resource for new developers, as it can help them learn best practices and improve their coding skills.

Navigating CoPilot’s potential for turbulence

While Microsoft’s CoPilot AI offers numerous benefits, it’s equally worthwhile to consider its most pertinent ethical implications and limitations. For one, CoPilot may sometimes generate incorrect or insecure code – and the developer could be none the wiser. As with all AI developments, developers must be cautious when working, and thoroughly review the AI-generated suggestions before implementing them in their final projects.

What’s more, there are concerns about the potential misuse of AI-generated anything for malicious purposes. To mitigate such risks, both Microsoft and OpenAI must continue to invest in the development of the technology and establish clear guidelines for ethical use. The story of AI is just beginning, and thankfully, CoPilot has the potential to make coding more efficient, less error-prone, and accessible to a wider range of developers – even those who are just starting out.

While the AI system has its limitations and ethical concerns, its benefits can significantly enhance the software development process. As CoPilot AI continues to evolve, so will the coding experience for developers and everyday computer users worldwide.

The big question is, where does CoPilot go from here?

Source: https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/10/microsoft_copilot_ai/?td=rt-3a

Do you think CoPilot could transform the way you work? Let us know what you think below!

For more on how AI is influencing the way we work, read a top tech CEO’s thoughts here: CEO: Modern Workers Must Embrace AI to Thrive.

The post Microsoft’s CoPilot AI: A Game-Changer for Developers first appeared on Tech Insight.

Would you trust AI to keep you safe? Microsoft and Epic are banking on it. The two companies are vying to streamline healthcare systems around the world to keep you safe, using their trademark software solutions: Microsoft’s OpenAI and Epic’s patented EHR.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) intelligence into common consumer technologies isn’t going away, with even the titans of the tech space vying to utilise the new tech to make headway. Microsoft has been a household name since the company reinvented personal computing in the mid-’70s. Now, a stride towards integrating Azure’s OpenAI Service into its offering promises to uphold Microsoft’s reputation and reinforce its position in the market, by better serving the healthcare industry.

On Monday 17th April, Microsoft Corp. announced that the company was expanding its ‘strategic collaboration’ with Epic – the self-described developer of cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology – to develop and better integrate generation AI into the healthcare sector. The companies will do this by harnessing Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, breakthrough AI tools that provide industry-leading code and language AI models; across any sector, Azure OpenAI can help modern workers complete tasks more efficiently, with less.

How are they doing it?

Microsoft seeks to utilise Azure’s ever-developing toolset to combine both its scale and power with Epic’s industry-leading electronic health record (EHR) software. It reinforces the companies’ long-standing partnership, which already enables organisations to run Epic’s digital environments on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

A shared innovation, it promises to deliver a ‘comprehensive array’ of generative AI-powered solutions that are integrated with Epic’s electronic health record software to increase productivity, enhance patient care and improve the financial integrity of health systems across the globe – its potential extends beyond borders.

Its worth is already being proven, as UC San Diego Health, UW Health in Madison, Wisconsin and Stanford Health Care have each deployed these innovative enhancements to automatically draft message responses, alleviating users from the common stresses of time-sensitive responses and faceless, automated responses. Another innovation will introduce conversational, natural language queries and interactive data analysis to SlicerDicer, Epic’s current self-serving reporting tool.

This will help clinical leaders to explore their data and findings in more intuitive ways. As per Microsoft’s press release, “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.”

OpenAI to the rescue!

Leading industry experts have repeatedly flagged just how urgently health systems and hospitals need to address the intense pressures on both costs and margins; in the US, approximately half of hospitals ended last year in the red.

Microsoft and Epic’s cutting-edge collaboration and implementation of Azure OpenAI Service promise to further streamline processes across the board, making it easier for healthcare organisations to identify operational improvements – improvements that not only include reducing costs, but changes that will ultimately assist workers in finding answers to questions locally, and potentially, worldwide. A digital solution for personal problems.

Would you trust OpenAI to keep you safe? Let us know in the comments!

Want to hear more about what Microsoft is doing to change the world?
Click here: Microsoft Pledges https://techinsight.newshub.talkabout.tech/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2019/09/uk-technology-heatmap-3.jpg-Carbon Data Centre by 2030

Source: https://news.microsoft.com/2023/04/17/microsoft-and-epic-expand-strategic-collaboration-with-integration-of-azure-openai-service/

The post OpenAI Changes Healthcare For The Better first appeared on Tech Insight.