Well, this was a tad unexpected. In a signal that reveals in shift in its AI approach, Microsoft has confirmed that it is teaming up with Facebook for artificial intelligence success.
Redmond still plans to update its Cognitive Kit, which continues to see new refreshes ever so often.
But it is clearly acknowledging the quick adoption of PyTorch, the Facebook solution, and will work to add its strength to its system. TensorFlow from Google remains the most popular open source AI software, but Facebook came out with its answer in late 2016.
Soon after, actually, when Microsoft put its Cognitive Kit on GitHub — with an even more permissive open source license.
Nevertheless, the reality is that there are just too many AI frameworks out there, and Microsoft has clearly seen where the water is flowing.
Eric Boyd of Microsoft confirmed this change in direction:
“The momentum of community, really, is around PyTorch and TensorFlow, and so that’s where were throwing the bulk of our emphasis. Having community adoption is hugely important.”
This move is part of the recent trend at Microsoft to embrace technology from outside the company.
It is doing so with Linux, making that OS accessible from within Windows 10 and even creating a Linux version of its SQL Server database software. It did so by developing apps for Android and iOS mobile platforms, and it even threw support around Hadoop, by abandoning its own big data solution, Dryad.
Want to find out more about PyTorch, the new Microsoft favorite?
Head on over here.
