Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told customers at a conference in Chicago on Tuesday that the company is teaching a new set of artificial intelligence tools how to “act on our behalf across our work and life.”

AI developers are increasingly pitching the next wave of generative AI chatbots as AI “agents” that can do more useful things on people’s behalf. But the cost of building and running AI tools is so high that more investors are questioning whether the technology’s promise is overblown.

Microsoft said last month that it’s preparing for a world where “every organization will have a constellation of agents — ranging from simple prompt-and-response to fully autonomous.”

Microsoft elaborated in a blog post Tuesday that such autonomous agents “can operate around the clock to review and approve customer returns or go over shipping invoices to help businesses avoid costly supply-chain errors.”

Microsoft’s annual Ignite conference caters to its big business customers. The pivot toward so-called “agentic AI” comes as some users are seeing limits to the large language models behind chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s own Copilot.

Those systems work by predicting the most plausible next word in a sentence and are good at certain writing-based work tasks. But tech companies have been working to build AI tools that are better at longer-range planning and reasoning so they can access the web or control computers and perform tasks on their own on a user’s behalf.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has criticized Microsoft’s pivot. Salesforce also has its “Agentforce” service that uses AI in sales, marketing and other tasks. “Microsoft rebranding Copilot as ‘agents’? That’s panic mode,” Benioff said in a social media post last month. He went on to claim that Microsoft’s flagship AI assistant, called Copilot, is “a flop” that is inaccurate and spills corporate data.

The Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association has voiced concerns on the government’s decision to ban Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

They urged the government to formulate a fair and balanced regulatory policy on the VPNs.

In a statement, the association highlighted the crucial role of VPNs usage for privacy, secure communication and online accessibility.

Government should halt the misuse of VPNs but not create hindrance for law-abiding users, and make such a regulatory policy that doesn’t stifle the economy and digital growth.

VPNs usage for IT exports, financial transactions and research work mustn’t be restricted that could disrupt key sectors of economy and digital progress.

It was emphasised that the association supported the responsible use of VPNs under national laws to prevent misuse.

It warned that indiscriminate restrictions on VPNs usage could negatively impact the responsible users.
Coordination among regulators, service providers and other stakeholders was necessary to resolve security concerns.

It was mentioned in the statement, a conducive environment for digital freedom, knowledge exchange and trade was necessary.

The association called the government to formulate equitable policies that safeguard both national security and the growth of Pakistan’s digital economy.

 San Francisco’s mayor-elect Daniel Lurie named OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as one of seven co-chairs of his transition team, the campaign announced on Monday.

Lurie, a philanthropist and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, was elected mayor of San Francisco earlier this month, succeeding London Breed, the city’s first Black female mayor, who has led the city since 2018.

“I’m excited to help the city I love, and where OpenAI was started, as it begins its next chapter with Mayor-elect Lurie stepping into his new role,” the OpenAI top boss said.

In the wake of the city’s gradual economic rebound post-pandemic, Lurie’s election marked a shift toward moderate-centrist politics, supported by affluent donors, many of whom are tech founders or venture capitalists, including WhatsApp cofounder and former CEO Jan Koum.

Among other popular names are the city’s Democratic Party Chair Nancy Tung and former Twitter CFO Ned Segal, who left the social media platform following Elon Musk’s takeover.

Lurie invested over $8 million of his personal wealth into the campaign, outspending his competitors.