Siemens and Microsoft really want manufacturers to use AI copilots
Siemens has announced it is partnering with Microsoft to bring generative AI-powered copilots to the manufacturing industry to boost productivity in the face of labor and skills shortages.
The announcement was made during Siemens CEO Roland Busch’s keynote speech at CES 2024 in Las Vegas.
The announcement comes amid Siemens’ drive to develop the “industrial metaverse”: a mixed reality environment that will improve manufacturing processes and collaboration between industries.
“Redefine reality and transform every day for everyone”
During his keynote speech, Busch stated: “Technology is hidden, but it is everywhere. The technology has a name. The industrial metaverse. The industrial metaverse will redefine reality and transform it for everyone every day.”
The industrial metaverse was also one of the motivations behind Siemens’ partnership with Sony to launch a mixed reality headset. Like the headset, Microsoft-powered AI Copilot will run as part of the Siemens Xcelerator digital business platform while utilizing Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service.
“Together with Microsoft, our shared vision is to empower customers with the adoption of generative AI,” Busch continued. “This has the potential to revolutionize the way companies design, develop, manufacture and operate. By making human-machine collaboration more widely available, engineers can accelerate code development, increase innovation, and address skilled labor shortages.”
It is hoped that the AI Copilot can help improve current design processes by using generative AI to improve the efficiency of the design process through direct access to virtual simulations of prototypes and design concepts.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said of the partnership: “With this next generation of AI, we have a unique opportunity to accelerate innovation across the industrial sector.
“We are building on our long-standing partnership with Siemens and bringing together AI advances in the Microsoft Cloud with Siemens industrial domain expertise to provide both frontline and knowledge workers with new AI-powered tools, starting with Siemens Industrial Copilot.”