Saudi Aramco Highlights Innovation in Pavilion at Esports World Cup Events

The pavilion includes an event titled "Virtual Reality Races on Jeddah Corniche Circuit," one of the main attractions offering visitors a unique experience through competitive races in a virtual environment simulating the famous Jeddah Corniche Circuit. (SPA)
The pavilion includes an event titled "Virtual Reality Races on Jeddah Corniche Circuit," one of the main attractions offering visitors a unique experience through competitive races in a virtual environment simulating the famous Jeddah Corniche Circuit. (SPA)
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Saudi Aramco Highlights Innovation in Pavilion at Esports World Cup Events

The pavilion includes an event titled "Virtual Reality Races on Jeddah Corniche Circuit," one of the main attractions offering visitors a unique experience through competitive races in a virtual environment simulating the famous Jeddah Corniche Circuit. (SPA)
The pavilion includes an event titled "Virtual Reality Races on Jeddah Corniche Circuit," one of the main attractions offering visitors a unique experience through competitive races in a virtual environment simulating the famous Jeddah Corniche Circuit. (SPA)

Saudi Aramco's pavilion at the Esports World Cup, the largest event in gaming history being held at Boulevard Riyadh City until August 25, stands out with three main activities that have caught visitors' attention and enriched their experience.

These activities are part of Aramco's ongoing efforts to boost interaction and engagement with the community through creative and innovative approaches.

The pavilion includes an event titled "Virtual Reality Races on Jeddah Corniche Circuit," one of the main attractions offering visitors a unique experience through competitive races in a virtual environment simulating the famous Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Races are held twice daily, offering participants the chance to win daily prizes. Additionally, weekend races qualify winners for the grand prize provided by Aramco.

The experience not only provides entertainment but also fosters a competitive spirit and encourages technical skills among youth.

Aramco also presents visitors to its pavilion with a virtual experience titled "Aramco Vision," a two-minute virtual journey that takes visitors on a tour through the company's facilities.

It highlights major future projects like NEOM, providing visitors with a comprehensive view of Aramco's ambitious achievements and future ventures.

The third activity is the virtual racing experience at Boulevard Riyadh, which allows visitors to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of racing. The activity offers an immersive experience that enables visitors to test their abilities and skills in racing within a meticulously simulated real-world environment.

Through these activities, Aramco is emphasizing its ongoing commitment to boosting innovation and creativity across various fields, attracting youth to an enjoyable and challenging experience. This helps in strengthening the company's leading position in innovation and technology.



Microsoft Revamps AI Copilot with New Voice, Reasoning Capabilities

Copilot logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Copilot logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Microsoft Revamps AI Copilot with New Voice, Reasoning Capabilities

Copilot logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Copilot logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Microsoft has given its consumer Copilot, an artificial intelligence assistant, a more amiable voice in its latest update, with the chatbot also capable of analyzing web pages for interested users as they browse.

The US software maker now has "an entire army" of creative directors - among them psychologists, novelists and comedians - finessing the tone and style of Copilot to distinguish it, Mustafa Suleyman, chief executive of Microsoft AI, told Reuters in an interview.

In one demonstration of the updated Copilot, a consumer asked what housewarming gift to buy at a grocery store for a friend who did not drink wine. After some back-and-forth, Copilot said aloud: "Italian (olive) oils are the hot stuff right now. Tuscan's my go-to. Super peppery."

The feature rollout, starting Tuesday, is one of the first that Suleyman has overseen since Microsoft created his division in March to focus on consumer products and technology research.

Long identified with business software, Microsoft has had a much harder road in the consumer realm. Its Bing search engine, for instance, is still dwarfed by Google.

Suleyman is hoping for a bigger splash with Copilot, which launched last year in a crowded field of AI chatbots, including OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.

Copilot's newly fashioned voice capabilities make it seem much more of an active listener, giving verbal cues like "cool" and "huh," Suleyman said.

Underlying the product are Microsoft AI, or "MAI," models, plus a technology suite from partner OpenAI, Suleyman said.

Suleyman added that consumers who spend $20 monthly for Copilot Pro can start testing a "Think Deeper" feature that reasons through choices, like whether to move to one city or another.

He said an additional test feature for paying subscribers, Copilot Vision, amounts to "digital pointing" - the ability for users to talk to AI about what they see in a Microsoft Edge browser. Consumers have to opt in, and the content they view will not be saved or used to train AI, Microsoft said.

These updates represent "glimmers" of AI that can be an "ever-present confidant, in your corner," Suleyman said. It's a vision he articulated as CEO of Inflection AI, whose top talent Microsoft poached in a closely watched deal this year.

Suleyman said that eventually, Copilot will learn context from consumers' Word documents, Windows desktops, even their gaming consoles if they grant permission.

Asked what Bill Gates, Microsoft's co-founder, thinks of the company's AI efforts, Suleyman said Gates was excited.

"He's always asking me about when Copilot can read and parse his emails. It's one of his favorite ones," Suleyman said. "We're on the case."