By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 18th, 2024
Tech giant Microsoft says its Security Copilot AI initiative will be of immense value to cybersecurity experts.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) has announced an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot geared toward cybersecurity professionals. According to the computer software giant, the chatbot will help cybersecurity personnel understand critical issues and proffer ways to fix them.
The Microsoft Security Copilot uses OpenAI’s GPT-4 and a security-conscious model developed by the tech company. The security model, built using Microsoft-gathered daily activity data, also has information about a given customer’s security environment. However, Microsoft said the data would not be used to train artificial intelligence models.
Microsoft Cybersecurity Chatbot Part of Efforts by Tech Company to Increase AI Footprint
Microsoft has been consolidating its software with AI models from OpenAI following ChatGPT’s explosive popularity since its November debut. Although Microsoft admitted that generative AI software could be “usefully wrong” at times, the company shows no signs of relenting its AI endeavors. This could be because the cybersecurity business is lucrative. The sector raked in more than $20 billion in revenue last year.
Microsoft engineers are presently using the cybersecurity AI chatbot to do their jobs. Microsoft executive Vasu Jakkal said the Security Copilot “can process 1,000 alerts and give you the two incidents that matter in seconds.” Furthermore, the tool also reverse-engineered some malicious code for an analyst who could not do that. Jakkal explained that this type of assistance could fill the gap for companies that hire inexperienced experts in some areas. In a media session, the Microsoft corporate vice president also said:
“There’s a learning curve, and it takes time. And now Security Copilot with the skills built in can augment you. So, it is going to help you do more with less.”
Jakkal hopes that many workers in a company will use Microsoft Security Copilot instead of just a few executives. This implication suggests that the tech company could enable the AI chatbot to conduct discussions in broader domains.
Microsoft Security Copilot will be accessible to a small selection of clients in a private preview before a wider release. However, Microsoft is yet to confirm the more general release date. Furthermore, the multinational tech corporation has yet to include pricing information on the regenerative AI tool.
Microsoft Wins CMA Approval for Activision Acquisition
In other positive Microsoft news, the Washington-based corporation secured a UK regulator’s approval on its Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) deal. Last Friday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) eased off a bit on the impending takeover of the gaming developer. According to the CMA, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc is not a threat to gaming competition. The competition regulator issued a statement that read:
“Having considered the additional evidence provided, we have now provisionally concluded that the merger will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in console gaming services because the cost to Microsoft of withholding Call of Duty from PlayStation would outweigh any gains from taking such action.”
At the time, Activision’s shares closed up 5% in US trading following the CMA’s verdict.