Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
What you need to know
- Microsoft is spinning Xiaoice into an independent company.
- Xiaoice is a chatbot designed to be more human-like and conversational.
- Microsoft will retain an investment interest in the company.
Microsoft is spinning off the popular chatbot Xiaoice into an independent company (via TechCruch. While Xiaoice will be an independent entity, Microsoft will retain an investment interest after Xiaoice is completely spun off. Xiaoice is a chatbot that provides conversational interaction.
Xiaoice has more than 230 skills and in 2018, Microsoft shared that the bot has more than 500 million users. Xiaoice translates to "Little Bing" and became popular as people interacted with it as a "virtual girlfriend." The bot aims to be social and human-like.
Microsoft explains in a post from 2018 that it wants people to view Xiaoice as a friend.
According to Microsoft, Xiaoice is being spun off with an aim to "accelerate the pace of local innovation in Xiaoice product lines and to improve the Xiaoice business environment" (translated by Microsoft Translator).
Following the spin-off, Xiaoice will license technologies from Microsoft for future research and development.
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
Update 4: Trump gives blessing to TikTok sale to Microsoft
TikTok may soon be owned by Microsoft. The company is reportedly in talks to buy out the U.S. portion of TikTok amid a rumored Trump administration order for TikTok owner Bytedance to divest. On Monday, President Trump says he does not oppose the sale so long as it is done by September 15.
Microsoft Edge is about to let you use Chrome themes from the web store
Microsoft Edge being built on Chromium has its advantages, mainly in that you an take advantage of Chrome's vast library of extensions. In the latest example of this, Microsoft has started allowing Edge users in the Dev channel install themes from the Chrome web store.
Need a new laptop to run VR? Here are the best devices out there now.
Using a laptop to power your VR system makes it easy to take it with you wherever you go. Not just any laptop is going to work for VR, though, so we rounded up your best options right here.
Buy one of these gaming PCs to play Microsoft Flight Simulator
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is a demanding game and it needs quite the PC to run it comfortably. If you don't have a PC yet dedicated to gaming, you'll want to pick from one of these to really bring the cockpit to life.
