Zoom Announces Generative AI-Powered Digital Assistant, CEO Responds to Teams EU Unbundling: 'You Should Ask The FTC'
Zoom has launched a generative AI-powered digital assistant, which will be included in its paid subscriptions at no extra cost.
Zoom AI Companion will be accessible across the Zoom platform, whether in meetings, chat, phone, email or whiteboard. AI Companion's features include meeting summarises, message drafting and real-time meeting feedback. While some of the features will be available at launch, others will be introduced in Spring 2024.
Smita Hashim, Chief Product Officer at Zoom, commented:
We were founded on doing what’s right for our customers, and we firmly believe that offering Zoom AI Companion at no additional cost to our paid Zoom user accounts delivers tremendous value as we all navigate the challenges facing us today. We are excited to see our customers and users start using AI Companion and about our strong roadmap for further innovation underpinned by a commitment to responsible AI."
Users can interact directly with AI Companion through a side panel in the Meetings experience. These capabilities will grow across Zoom next year.
In other Zoom news, its CEO Eric Yuan has responded to Microsoft’s intentions to unbundle Microsoft Teams from Office 365 and Microsoft 365 subscriptions.
The decision, first announced last month, followed a three-year-old Slack complaint which catalysed an EU investigation for anticompetitive behaviour. For Microsoft customers, it ultimately makes it more expensive to buy Office 365 and Teams compared to when they were bundled together.
Yuan tentatively contributed to the discussion, suggesting that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which enforces antitrust law, should consider investigating similarly to the EU anticompetition body – but didn't criticise Microsoft.
“No matter what, you’ve got to be fair,” Yuan said during a Goldman Sachs technology event (via Bloomberg). "You should ask this question to the FTC as well."
New Slack AI Capabilities Announced to Transform Productivity
Salesforce has launched three new advanced productivity tools for Slack in Slack AI, Slack lists and new automation capabilities.
Slack AI is built natively into the platform to provide users with tools such as channel recaps and thread summaries. Slack lists empowers users to track work tasks, oversee requests, and manage cross-functional projects with a communication flow.
Furthermore, the new automation capabilities allow every user, regardless of coding expertise, to automate specific tasks. The Taskflow Builder enables users to connect tools and a hub for simpler access. Developers can also build and deploy custom apps with Slack as the host.
