News & features

Research Focus: Week of January 27, 2025
In this issue: A new approach to multimodal pretraining for remote sensing; Managed-retention memory for the AI era; Improving detection of macular telangiectasia type 2; Generalizing symbolic automata.

Research Focus: Week of January 13, 2025
In this edition: Privacy enhancements for multiparty deep learning; using smaller, open-source models to provide relevance judgments; new tool uses AI, data to automate innovation and development; Yasuyuki Matsushita named IEEE 2025 Computer Society Fellow.
In the news | Planet Webinar
Natural Disaster Management: Using AI for Rapid Building Damage Assessment
AI + satellite data is helping authorities rapidly assess the extent of damage to buildings after disasters, enabling organizations to target their efforts to deliver critical aid. Webinar with Planet’s Andrew Zolli and Microsoft’s Juan M. Lavista Ferres.
In the news | GeekWire
AI in Seattle: Coming Out of Stealth Mode
As a devastating fire raced through Lahaina last summer, planning for emergency aid and recovery was well underway, even before aid organizations could arrive. Aid workers knew just where to go in the ravaged town to make best use of…
In the news | LinkedIn Article
A World Seen in Full is a Better World
When news of the earthquakes in Afghanistan broke in October 2023, Microsoft AI for Good Lab mobilized to support first responders with our rapid damage-assessment capabilities. We discovered something surprising in the course of this work: There were no up-to-date…
In the news | UAE Today
AI technology can aid rescue efforts during natural disasters, experts say
Space technology and satellites can be used to prioritise the worst-hit areas during natural disasters and help rescuers save lives on the ground, a space conference heard. Although the AI technology used to scour thousands of images from disaster zones is…
In the news | Forbes
An AI Model Tested In The Ukraine War Is Helping Assess Damage From The Hawaii Wildfires
Using satellite imagery by Planet, a Microsoft AI tool compared the pictures before and after the fire and made maps to help organizations like the Red Cross assess the damages.
In the news | BBC News
Fighting forest fires with technology
Juan Lavista Ferres, chief data scientist at Microsoft’s AI For Good Lab, tells Tech Life how artificial intelligence can help predict wildfires.
In the news | Maui News
Lahaina Wildfire Damage Evaluated Using Microsoft’s AI Solutions
Following the Lahaina wildfire’s impact, Microsoft’s AI for Good Research Lab has leveraged advanced AI solutions to help assess the damage incurred by the disaster. Juan M. Lavista Ferres, Chief Scientist and Lab Director at Microsoft AI for Good Research…