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Saudi Delegation Visits Portugal, Austria to Boost Saudi High-Tech Manufacturing

Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources logo
Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources logo
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Saudi Delegation Visits Portugal, Austria to Boost Saudi High-Tech Manufacturing

Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources logo
Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources logo

A Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources delegation recently visited Portugal and Austria to discuss enhancing cooperation in high-technology manufacturing. The delegation met with government and private entities in both countries.

In Portugal, the delegation, led by the Director General of Manufacturing Localization and Increasing Local Content Engineer Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Janini, held discussions with representatives of the Portuguese Trade and Investment Agency and the Arab-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The focus was on supporting and stimulating the high-tech manufacturing environment in Saudi Arabia and exchanging expertise in this field. The delegation also visited leading Portuguese factories in the high-tech manufacturing sector, including the Unicorn Factory incubator, which supports startups and entrepreneurs in the technology sector.

In Austria, the delegation visited the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) headquarters to review the Kingdom's efforts to support and develop the industrial environment. Additionally, the delegation discussed the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources' preparations to host the Multilateral Industrial Policy Forum 2024 (MIPF) in Riyadh this month.

The visits were part of the ministry's efforts to strengthen international partnerships that aim to support the development of the industrial sector, encourage innovation and knowledge transfer, localize advanced technologies, and enhance the Kingdom's position as a leading industrial center in the region.

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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)
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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."