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I get that AI is all the rage right now. But this is an information-thin Microsoft press release, if not outright ad, with the OpenAI stamp on it. These things

I get that AI is all the rage right now. But this is an information-thin Microsoft press release, if not outright ad, with the OpenAI stamp on it. These things really should not be on the front page.

csharpminor 10y ago
Also troubling to see OpenAI partnering with Microsoft, which has a record of developing surveillance systems that could leverage AI in harmful ways: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Awareness_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Awareness_System
deleted 10y ago
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dave_sullivan 10y ago
Naw, what they're talking about with infiniband networking ends up being important for distributed GPU workloads and is pretty cool to see in a cloud offering. Being "impressed by their roadmap" is legitimate; Microsoft is putting a lot of energy behind competing with AWS. I've been hearing good things about Azure, but have been an AWS user since ~2009. I haven't heard they're much better or cheaper than AWS, so I haven't bothered to switch. There's certainly PR value here, I just don't think it should be dismissed outright because of that.
- spydum 10y ago
  Much of the cheaper comes when you get the large enterprise discounts (versus amazon). Those don't last forever though. Their offering is definitely far more immature, but they are making constant improvements. They tend to be leveraging lot of ML stuff in the security/management space as well, which is pretty interesting (they have a vast trove of threat intel from the millions of MS defender and O365 type deployments).
MzHN 10y ago
If it was some other company than OpenAI, I would agree. But just the fact that Microsoft is partnering with OpenAI is noteworthy to many here. OpenAI is a non-profit, and I don't know how lucrative the deal is for Microsoft or how much business OpenAI has, but I don't mind Microsoft getting some good press for the move either.
- Hydraulix989 10y ago
  Microsoft probably offered them a really sweet deal (read: tons of Azure credits), in exchange for the press/marketing. Amazon is pretty stingy with those kinds of things, so they are very Jeff Bezos when it comes to startup credits and the like. The "open" name is telling, OpenAI's work should be agnostic of platform, and they shouldn't be pitching others' proprietary systems in public like this.
- argonaut 10y ago
  That's the point. This is only getting attention because it's OpenAI.
denzil_correa 10y ago
I think it would have been better had they mentioned some financial costs for OpenAI to use Azure. Since OpenAI is a non-profit foundation, giving them a free or substantially cost reduced access would mean the Microsoft is doing their bit to promote AI research. There are various ways to make something whole.
hellofunk 10y ago
What should and should not be on the front page is not the decision of any one person. It is simply a result of widespread voting.

I get that AI is all the rage right now. But this is an information-thin Microsoft press release, if not outright ad, with the OpenAI stamp on it. These things really should not be on the front page.

csharpminor 10y ago

Also troubling to see OpenAI partnering with Microsoft, which has a record of developing surveillance systems that could leverage AI in harmful ways: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Awareness_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Awareness_System

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dave_sullivan 10y ago

Naw, what they're talking about with infiniband networking ends up being important for distributed GPU workloads and is pretty cool to see in a cloud offering. Being "impressed by their roadmap" is legitimate; Microsoft is putting a lot of energy behind competing with AWS. I've been hearing good things about Azure, but have been an AWS user since ~2009. I haven't heard they're much better or cheaper than AWS, so I haven't bothered to switch. There's certainly PR value here, I just don't think it should be dismissed outright because of that.

spydum 10y ago
Much of the cheaper comes when you get the large enterprise discounts (versus amazon). Those don't last forever though. Their offering is definitely far more immature, but they are making constant improvements. They tend to be leveraging lot of ML stuff in the security/management space as well, which is pretty interesting (they have a vast trove of threat intel from the millions of MS defender and O365 type deployments).

MzHN 10y ago

If it was some other company than OpenAI, I would agree. But just the fact that Microsoft is partnering with OpenAI is noteworthy to many here. OpenAI is a non-profit, and I don't know how lucrative the deal is for Microsoft or how much business OpenAI has, but I don't mind Microsoft getting some good press for the move either.

Hydraulix989 10y ago
Microsoft probably offered them a really sweet deal (read: tons of Azure credits), in exchange for the press/marketing. Amazon is pretty stingy with those kinds of things, so they are very Jeff Bezos when it comes to startup credits and the like. The "open" name is telling, OpenAI's work should be agnostic of platform, and they shouldn't be pitching others' proprietary systems in public like this.
argonaut 10y ago
That's the point. This is only getting attention because it's OpenAI.

denzil_correa 10y ago

I think it would have been better had they mentioned some financial costs for OpenAI to use Azure. Since OpenAI is a non-profit foundation, giving them a free or substantially cost reduced access would mean the Microsoft is doing their bit to promote AI research. There are various ways to make something whole.

hellofunk 10y ago

What should and should not be on the front page is not the decision of any one person. It is simply a result of widespread voting.