Microsoft just announced its acquisition of the Texas-based conversational AI development company, Xoxco.
In an apparent move to further boost its artificial intelligence technology, Microsoft has acquired the bot and conversational AI tools developer Xoxco. The startup company also created the first commercial bot in Slack called Howdy.
Xoxco also developed the Botkit, a suite of developer tools now used by thousands of developers in GitHub. Microsoft already acquired Botkit earlier this year for $7.5 billion USD. Aside from these projects, it was reported that Xoxco had already worked with Microsoft in the past.
“Over the years, we have partnered with XOXCO and have been inspired by this work,” Lili Cheng, Microsoft’s Vice President of Conversational AI, said in a statement.
“We have shared goals to foster a community of startups and innovators, share best practices and continue to amplify our focus on conversational AI, as well as to develop tools for empowering people to create experiences that do more with speech and language.”
Xoxco’s Conversational AI to Strengthen Microsoft Bot Framework
According to Cheng, Microsoft’s latest acquisition is part of the company’s continuous effort to democratize AI development by integrating conversational experiences into people’s communication channels.
With the ongoing advancement of bot and artificial intelligence technology, conversational AI has provided businesses, employees, and customers with an efficient engagement medium. In fact, the Microsoft Bot Framework, currently available on both Azure and GitHub, supports more than 360,000 developers today.
“Our goal is to make AI accessible and valuable to every individual and organization, amplifying human ingenuity with intelligent technology,” Cheng added.
Microsoft wants to achieve this goal by adding artificial intelligence to its products and services across different platforms. The company believes that by doing this, individual and organizational capabilities would be enhanced, ultimately increasing productivity and performance.
“We’re excited to welcome the XOXCO team and look forward to working with the community to accelerate innovation and help customers capitalize on the many benefits AI can offer,” Cheng went on to say.
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