Microsoft is quietly testing a Copilot Labs experiment called Portraits that would let users pick from 40 animated, non‑photorealistic 3D avatars — powered by Microsoft Research’s VASA‑1 — and speak to them in voice mode, according to an internal description surfaced by testers; the rollout...
18+ gating
ai avatars
ai in windows
avatar
avatar guardrails
conversational ai
copilot
copilot labs
dataethics
deepfake risk
lip sync
microsoft copilot
multimodal ai
non-photorealistic
portrait
privacy
real-time animation
regional rollout
user experience
vasa-1
Tech platforms and AI labs are operating on two different rulebooks: the same companies that ban automated scraping of their services in their terms of service are also building the next generation of generative models on training pipelines that — evidence shows — lean heavily on content...
OpenAI’s backing of a feature-length, largely AI-created animated film called Critterz has jolted the animation world: the project — expanding a 2023 AI-made short into a Cannes-bound feature — explicitly uses OpenAI tools (including GPT-5 and the Sora video model) and a dramatically reduced...
ai
ai animation
animation pipeline
cannes film festival
critterz
critterz film
dataethics
federation studios
generative ai
gpt-5
human in the loop
labor impact ai
native foreign
openai
prototyping
sora
union protections
vertigo films
A small but highly visible standoff at Microsoft’s Redmond campus this week crystallized a wider crisis for the company: employees confronting management over allegations that Microsoft’s cloud and AI technologies have been used by the Israeli military to store and process mass surveillance data...
artificial intelligence
cloud computing
cloud security
covington burling
dataethics
employee activism
external review
gaza conflict
government contracts
human rights
israel
microsoft
microsoft azure
no azure for apartheid
palestine
responsible ai
surveillance
tech regulation
transparency
In a groundbreaking collaboration, Basecamp Research has partnered with tech giants Microsoft and NVIDIA to revolutionize biological research through advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies. This alliance aims to digitize nature by transforming biological...
ai in science
artificial intelligence
biodiversity
biological data
biotechnology
cloud computing
dataethicsdata-driven biology
deep learning
dna sequencing
drug discovery
genomics
life sciences
machine learning
microsoft azure
nvidia
protein prediction
protein structures
sustainable research
In a rapidly transforming workplace, where hybrid and remote work are increasingly becoming the norm, Microsoft’s deployment of Microsoft Places internally stands as a vivid case study in balancing technological innovation with a steadfast commitment to employee privacy and well-being. As...
ai in business
compliance management
dataethics
employee advocacy
employee engagement
enterprise software
hybrid work
hybrid workforce
location tracking
microsoft places
privacy
remote work tools
scheduling
technology deployment
work councils
workplace data
workplace innovation
workplace privacy
workplace technology