Skip to main content

Microsoft and Xiaomi team up to produce smart speakers, laptops, and more

Microsoft and Xiaomi have signed a Strategic Framework Memorandum of Understanding to deepen the partnership between the two companies and to work together on future A.I.-powered products and software.

Microsoft has agreed to allow Xiaomi to use its cloud computing products, such as Azure, to create a line of smartphones, laptops, and other smart devices for an international market.

Recommended Videos

The details of the agreement have not yet been announced, but the press release says that one of the projects being considered is a Cortana-powered Mi AI speaker. The Mi AI is a budget-conscious smart speaker similar to the Google Home or Amazon Echo. Currently, the only Cortana-powered smart speaker on the market is the Harmon Kardon Invoke.

The Invoke currently costs around $150, putting it in a similar price tier as the Amazon Echo. The current version of the Mi AI costs about a third of that price, though its availability is limited outside of China.  It is likely that a Cortana-powered version would be marketed more aggressively in the west.

Microsoft and Xiaomi are also discussing plans to integrate other Microsoft software into Xiamio products such as Bing, Edge, Skype, along with improved A.I. functionality. The details of these plans have not yet been revealed.

The fact that these companies decided to go with a Memorandum of Understanding is also important, as it means that the agreement is not legally binding. It is also unclear what, if any, financials are involved in this program.

Regardless of the specifics, this deal has the potential to benefit both companies. Access to Microsoft’s A.I. and cloud computing technology could provide a boon for Xiaomi as it works to develop new hardware. Additionally, it might give the company greater access to western markets.

Microsoft, on the other hand, is likely hoping to leverage its partnership with Xiaomi to earn a foothold in the lucrative Chinese market. China can be difficult for foreign tech companies to break into, thanks to a combination of a highly competitive market and government policies.

This is not the first time that these two companies have worked together. In 2015, they signed a deal to test Windows 10 on Xiaomi devices.

Eric Brackett
Former Digital Trends Contributor
OpenAI and Microsoft sued by NY Times for copyright infringement
A phone with the OpenAI logo in front of a large Microsoft logo.

The New York Times has become the first major media organization to take on AI firms in the courts, accusing OpenAI and its backer, Microsoft, of infringing its copyright by using its content to train AI-powered products such as OpenAI's ChatGPT.

In a lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, the media giant claims that “millions” of its copyrighted articles were used to train its AI technologies, enabling it to compete with the New York Times as a content provider.

Read more
Microsoft Copilot: tips and tricks for using AI in Windows
Microsoft Copilot allows you to ask an AI assistant questions within Office apps.

Microsoft's Copilot might not be breaking ground in quite the same way as ChatGPT seemed to when it first debuted, but there are still some useful abilities for this desktop-ready chatbot AI that is now available to pretty much anyone running the latest version of Windows 11. It doesn't have a huge range of abilities yet, confining itself to changing some Windows settings, opening apps for you, and performing the creative writing and web search functions available through its contemporaries.

But you can make Copilot work for you and work well, and there are some tips and tricks you'll want to employ to make the most of it. Here are some of my favorites.
Go hands-free
While the latest natural language AIs might be primarily text-based, many of them now include voice and audio support, and Windows Copilot is much the same. While this might seem like merely a more clunky way to interact with Copilot -- and it is kind of clunky -- this is an important feature because it means you don't have to use your hands to prompt it. Beyond clicking the little microphone button, you can get back to whatever you're doing while asking it a question or requesting something from it.

Read more
Apple may finally beef up Siri with AI smarts next year
The Siri activation animation on an iPhone running iOS 14.

As the world has been taken over by generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT, Apple has stayed almost entirely out of the game. That could all change soon, though, as a new report claims the company is about to bring its own AI -- dubbed “Apple GPT” -- to a massive range of products and services.

That’s all according to reporter Mark Gurman, who has a strong track record when it comes to Apple leaks and rumors. In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman alleges that “Apple executives were caught off guard by the industry’s sudden AI fever and have been scrambling since late last year to make up for lost time.”

Read more