Tech mogul Microsoft have acquired AI (Artificial Intelligence) startup Semantic Machines in a bid to improve their chatbots for enterprise-level customers. With this acquisition, Microsoft seek to make their chatbots more conversational and interactive in order to give their customers a better experience.
According to Microsoft, AI can be leveraged to improve the quality of applications and also be implemented across multiple products, including chatbots.
To make the chatbots more human and less robotic, Microsoft say that acquiring Semantic Machines was necessary. They also claim that Semantic’s technology not only understands commands but also understands language and conversations.
With this acquisition, Microsoft say that enterprise-level customers are in for a better chatbot experience. They also claim that this technology will be integrated into Microsoft’s products like Cortona and Azure Bot Service to elevate the products further.
Speaking about this acquisition, David Ku, Corporate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of AI & Research at Microsoft, commented:
For rich and effective communication, intelligent assistants need to be able to have a natural dialogue instead of just responding to commands.
Combining Semantic Machines’ technology with Microsoft’s own AI advances, we aim to deliver powerful, natural and more productive user experiences that will take conversational computing to a new level.
In closing, Microsoft added that this acquisition will allow them to compete with the likes of Apple’s Siri. Neither companies have disclosed the terms of the acquisition deal.