Microsoft plans to tie up with local firms for AI edge

The United States tech giant Microsoft Corp is ramping up efforts to bring its artificial intelligence prowess to China by teaming up with a string of local partners such as China Mobile, DJI and Peking University.

Harry Shum, executive vice-president at Microsoft, said on Monday the company will leverage all of its resources and technological edges in AI to cooperate with Chinese universities, research and development agencies as well as enterprises, in the hope of empowering businesses' digital transformation and luring more local developers.

"China is a most dynamic market where more than 400,000 software developers are using Microsoft's platforms and technologies to create applications. More importantly, 100,000 of them work with our AI-enabled tools. By having extended cooperation with China, we hope to find new opportunities in the country," Shum said at a Microsoft AI conference in Beijing.