Microsoft's new AI startup program launched at Station F, Paris

Microsoft is joining the likes of Apple, Facebook and Amazon to invest in Artificial Intelligence research with the launch of new AI startup programme at Station F. Microsoft has had startup accelerator in the Sentier neighborhood for a few years now. When Station F opens this month, the company is going to exclusively focus on artificial intelligence with a partnership with INRIA and move everything to the startup campus.

Microsoft France Developer Experience leader Christophe Shaw said in a statement to TechCrunch, "We think that we are first going to select 5 or 6 startups to foster an ecosystem around INRIA and themselves.The idea is that eventually, we are going to have 100 startups".

The primary startup to join this program is Recast.ai. The company lets developers "to build, launch and manage chatbots and also take care of hosting these bots".

Recast.ai co-founder and CEO Patrick Joubert said "We've been lucky that Microsoft spotted us from the very beginning of Recast. We've been using Microsoft Azure to host our services"

The Recast team is looking forward to working next to other AI people so that they can learn from each other. The startup hopes to find new clients by being surrounded by hundreds of corporations at Station F.

Microsoft also plans to assist all the other companies at Station F with some developer perks.I f you're working at Station F, you'll automatically get free credit score at Microsoft Azure as a part of their plan to assist startups.

Shaw said,"We don't plan to invest or acquire startups through this program.Ultimately, we want to host one event per day at Station F from technical presentations to business workshops". By helping a new wave of AI led companies to expand internationally, Microsoft is bringing its benefits to more people.