Microsoft's AI Blitz at Build 2025 Reshapes Developer Landscape
While others read about AI news, you'll know exactly what to do about it
Today’s Briefing:
In today's newsletter:
Nvidia unveils advanced AI technologies at Computex 2025
Microsoft announces multiple AI initiatives at Build 2025
xAI's Grok 3 comes to Microsoft Azure amid controversy
AMD sells ZT Systems' server manufacturing business for $3B
New developer tools: EvalKit, Sherlog Canvas, and NLWeb
OpenAI's Codex and ChatGPT 4.1 add new capabilities
Tencent and Google advance AI multimedia processing
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Markets
Major Investments & Acquisitions
AMD sells ZT Systems' server manufacturing business for $3B. AMD has sold ZT Systems' server-manufacturing business to Sanmina for $3 billion, while retaining control of ZT Systems' AI solutions design business. Sanmina becomes AMD's preferred manufacturing partner for cloud and AI solutions. Read more
Nvidia unveils advanced AI technologies at Computex 2025. Nvidia announced new AI technologies including humanoid robotics and custom AI infrastructure, partnering with CoreWeave, Foxconn, and SoftBank to create a global GPU cloud network despite ongoing tariff and export control challenges. Read more
Nebius Group emerges as AI data center player. The Nasdaq-listed Yandex spinoff, backed by Nvidia and Jeff Bezos, is gaining attention as an AI data center stock with earnings due May 20 and significant growth potential in the AI infrastructure market. Read more
Y Combinator startup to hire AI agents as employees. Firecrawl announced plans to hire three AI agents with a $1 million budget, signaling a growing trend of integrating AI into workforce roles and raising questions about the future of employment. Read more
Product Launches & Technology Updates
Microsoft announces Windows AI Foundry. At Build 2025, Microsoft introduced a platform to simplify AI development on Windows devices with features including on-device AI model execution and cross-platform support. Read more
Microsoft Edge gets new AI APIs for web apps. Microsoft is adding AI APIs to its Edge browser for web app integration using models like Phi 4 mini, offering on-device privacy and planning additional writing assistance and translation features. Read more
NLWeb simplifies chatbot creation for websites. Microsoft's new open project enables businesses to create AI-powered website chatbots with minimal code and custom data integration. Read more
xAI's Grok 3 comes to Microsoft Azure amid controversy. Microsoft becomes one of the first to offer managed access to Grok 3 on its Azure AI Foundry, following controversy over a programming error that caused the model to question historical narratives. Read more
OpenAI launches Codex AI coding agent. OpenAI's preview version of Codex streamlines software development for paid ChatGPT Pro, Enterprise, and Team users, directly competing with Google and Anthropic in the coding assistance space. Read more
ChatGPT 4.1 adds PDF export capabilities. OpenAI's update enhances utility for professional and academic users who need to save and share AI-generated content in standardized formats. Read more
Tencent unveils multimodal video AI model. Tencent's new model for video processing can generate and analyze complex video content, positioning the company as a competitor in the crowded AI-driven media space. Read more
Google advances AI multimedia capabilities. Google announced AI improvements for video advertising in collaboration with Netflix, enhancing targeted ads through AI-driven content analysis. Read more
ElevenLabs launches Infinite Soundboard. The new AI-powered tool generates custom audio effects for creators in gaming and content production who need versatile sound assets. Read more
Developer Tools & Open Source
EvalKit dashboard helps domain experts enhance AI agents. The new open-source dashboard provides installation guides, Vertex AI configuration, and development instructions for improving AI agents. Read more
Sherlog Canvas offers AI-powered investigative notebook. The platform features a multi-agent AI system for software engineering tasks like debugging, log analysis, and database queries. Read more
Windsurf releases SWE-1 models on GitHub. Aimed at software engineering tasks, these models further democratize access to advanced AI coding tools for developers worldwide. Read more
Notion introduces AI for workplace productivity. Notion's new AI tool automates tasks like note organization and project management for enterprise users seeking to optimize workflows. Read more
Industry Shifts & Strategic Moves
Anthropic's Model Context Protocol gains major support. GitHub and Microsoft join the steering committee for Anthropic's MCP standard, planning extensive support across their platforms including Azure and Windows 11. Read more
Microsoft Discovery aims to accelerate scientific research. The Build 2025 announcement leverages agentic AI for scientific collaboration, though skepticism remains about AI's current reliability for breakthroughs. Read more
Microsoft's Azure AI assists in military operations. Microsoft confirmed Azure AI helped in Israeli hostage-rescue operations, highlighting AI's growing military role and raising ethical questions. Read more
White House scrutinizes Apple-Alibaba AI partnership. Officials are reviewing Apple's potential deal to integrate Alibaba's AI into Chinese iPhones, raising censorship and data-sharing concerns. Read more
Apple's former Siri head preferred Google's Gemini. John Giannandrea advocated for Gemini over ChatGPT due to data protection concerns, though Apple proceeded with ChatGPT while exploring other partnerships. Read more
Research & Developments
China announces progress on space-based AI supercomputer. The advancement supports China's space exploration while raising questions about the militarization of space-based computing resources. Read more
Study reveals AI's timekeeping limitations. Research shows AI models struggle with reading clocks and calendar arithmetic due to visual processing and training data deficits. Read more
AI systems developing social norms in multi-agent environments. A study indicates AI systems are forming their own social norms when interacting, raising implications for governance and ethics. Read more
Analysis
Today's tech news is dominated by Microsoft's Build 2025 conference announcements, which reveal the company's comprehensive strategy to integrate AI across its entire ecosystem. From Windows AI Foundry to Edge browser APIs, NLWeb for chatbots, and the scientific research-focused Microsoft Discovery platform, the company is creating a cohesive AI development environment that spans consumer, enterprise, and research applications.
This multi-pronged approach positions Microsoft to compete effectively against both specialized AI companies and platform rivals. The partnership with xAI to bring Grok 3 to Azure is particularly significant, as it suggests Microsoft is broadening its AI model ecosystem beyond its exclusive OpenAI relationship, potentially hedging against overreliance on a single AI provider.
Meanwhile, Nvidia continues to strengthen its hardware dominance at Computex, focusing on creating a global network of GPU clouds through strategic partnerships. This approach tackles both the geographic limitations and regulatory challenges facing AI infrastructure development, though ongoing tariff and export control issues remain potential hurdles.
In the open-source and developer tools space, we're seeing increasing accessibility of AI capabilities through projects like EvalKit, Sherlog Canvas, and Windsurf's SWE-1 models. This democratization trend is enabling smaller players to integrate advanced AI capabilities without the massive infrastructure investments required just months ago.
Worth watching: The emergence of Anthropic's Model Context Protocol as a potential industry standard for connecting AI models to data sources, with GitHub and Microsoft joining as steering committee members. If MCP gains wider adoption, it could significantly reduce integration barriers between AI systems and external data, potentially accelerating the development of more capable AI applications across industries.
Recommended Reading
State of AI Security Report 2025 - Cisco Read more
Summary: Cisco's comprehensive analysis examines the evolving security landscape as AI becomes increasingly embedded in critical infrastructure. The report highlights the dual nature of AI as both a security tool and vulnerability vector, with particular focus on emerging threats like model poisoning and prompt injection attacks. Through case studies from various industries, the authors identify best practices for securing AI systems while maintaining operational efficiency. The report concludes with a framework for organizational AI security maturity assessment, offering practical guidance for security leaders navigating this rapidly evolving domain.
Building AI Chatbots with Microsoft's NLWeb: A Practical Guide
Introduction to NLWeb for Business Websites
Microsoft's newly announced NLWeb project represents a significant step toward democratizing conversational AI for websites. This guide will help you understand how to leverage this technology to create a custom AI chatbot that enhances your website's user experience with minimal development effort.
Day 1: Planning Your Chatbot Implementation
Business Objectives Assessment Begin by clearly defining what you want your chatbot to accomplish. Common use cases include customer support automation, product recommendations, appointment scheduling, or lead qualification. Document specific scenarios your chatbot should handle and key performance indicators for measuring success.
Content Inventory Identify the knowledge sources your chatbot will access. This could include FAQs, product documentation, or service descriptions. NLWeb enables integration with your existing website content, knowledge bases, or custom databases. Create a structured inventory of this information and determine how it should be organized for optimal chatbot access.
User Experience Design Map the conversation flows your users are likely to follow. Consider both happy paths (where users get what they need directly) and recovery paths (where the chatbot must handle confusion or redirect users). Sketch wireframes of how the chatbot will appear on your website and how it will interact with existing page elements.
Implementation Strategy
Quick-Start Approach For businesses looking to implement rapidly:
Start with one well-defined use case rather than attempting to build an all-purpose assistant
Begin with existing documentation as your knowledge base
Use NLWeb's built-in templates and modify them for your brand
Deploy in a limited capacity (specific pages or for certain user segments) before full rollout
Integration Considerations Determine how deeply you want to integrate the chatbot with your existing systems. NLWeb supports varying levels of integration:
Standalone mode using only website content
Database-connected for accessing customer information or product details
API-enabled for triggering actions like placing orders or updating accounts
In the next part of the guide, we'll cover technical deployment steps, customization options, and advanced techniques for enhancing your NLWeb chatbot with domain-specific knowledge.
Featured Prompt
For NLWeb Implementation
Use this prompt with your AI assistant to help with NLWeb implementation planning:
"I'm planning to implement Microsoft's NLWeb chatbot solution on our [type of business] website. Our primary goal is to [main objective, e.g., reduce support ticket volume]. Our target users are [describe audience], and our key content resources include [list resources]. Please help me create a structured implementation plan including: 1) The optimal conversation flows for our specific use case, 2) Required integrations with our existing systems, 3) Knowledge base organization recommendations, and 4) A testing strategy to validate performance before full deployment. Please highlight any potential challenges specific to our industry."Tools
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"There's no question we are in an AI and data revolution, which means that we're in a customer revolution and a business revolution."
Clara Shih, CEO, Salesforce AI
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