Microsoft has canceled Project Airsim, an artificial intelligence-based drone simulation program that was part of its vision for artificial virtual worlds.
The team behind the Airsim project received internal information from the company that it would be laying off the entire team while completing the project. Microsoft confirmed that it had canceled the project on December 15.
Microsoft said in a statement: “We are proud of the impact this incubator is making for our customers and will continue to invest in Azure as a computing platform that supports industrial transformation and a wide range of enterprise projects.” Artificial intelligence in the company. » Close cooperation with our customers. Working closely together to achieve this transformation. "
The Project Airsim news comes after Microsoft on October 19 officially ended support for Project Bonsai, an artificial intelligence development platform for building autonomous systems for industrial use. Both projects are part of Microsoft's industrial transformation.
In 2018, Microsoft acquired AI startup Bonsai, which is viewed internally as Microsoft's answer to Google's acquisition of Deepmind.
While the company started Airsim as an open source project in 2017, it later focused on products intended for industrial customers.
Project Airsim and Project Bonsai are part of Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott's efforts to develop new products designed to attract industrial customers to use the company's cloud.
Satya Nadella talked about the Bonsai project in the same way he talks about OpenAI today, mentioning it in staff meetings and public interviews as part of the future of AI.
Microsoft originally viewed these projects as a way to attract industrial application developers to the Azure cloud to help them compete with Amazon Web Services, but interest in these projects has since waned as its partnership with OpenAI has grown.
In early 2023, the company began promoting artificial virtual universes while also announcing an expanded partnership with OpenAI. “Artificial virtual universe concepts are changing the way people and machines work together,” the company said in February 2023. Once the technology matures, it has the potential to help industry players proactively solve problems to help continue Web 3 development.”
Microsoft is maintaining the Airsim project because it believes there are many potential customers for the product. The closure of Project Bonsai and Project Airsim is an example of how Microsoft is redirecting its resources toward its OpenAI strategy.
Reports last month said the company was abandoning its experimental products like Surface Earbuds to focus on investing in artificial intelligence. Last February, the company canceled another industrial project, laying off a team of 100 people working on it a few months after its founding. The company said at the time that it preferred short-term projects that could generate revenue quickly.