Grab and Microsoft come together in a strategic investment move

In the start of this year Uber sold off its ride-hailing enterprise in southeast Asia to a competitor, Grab, that’s now raising $3 billion to further amplify operations.

Today Microsoft introduced it’s making a “strategic investment” in Grab-the Singapore based, ride-hailing service, as the two release a “broad partnership” to apply Microsoft’s machine learning and AI tech. Step one is adopting Microsoft’s Azure servers because of the cloud platform backing grab’s ride-hailing and virtual wallet.

After that, the plans get larger, as it anticipates the use of machine learning and photo recognition to allow passengers share their region with a driver with the aid of taking a photograph of their surroundings that the device acknowledges and converts into an address.

Otherwise, it may manage guidelines, improve fraud detection, enhance its maps or powerful facial recognition to become aware of drivers and passengers.

There also are non-AI powered parts of the arrangement, like in-car entertainment systems, related rewards programs and integration with Outlook.

Like Uber, Grab is constructing a platform to do lots extra than have a stranger come to pick you up in their vehicle, whilst for Microsoft, all of this seems just like its efforts to compete with Amazon in building more-linked grocery and retail shops and dominate developing back-end technology to control everything.

Microsoft did not say how much it’s investing in Grab, however, Japan’s Softbank is reportedly investing $500 million, at the same time as Toyota already announced it’s in for $1 billion. Soon enough it is expected that Microsoft will give details on how much it plans to invest in the Singapore based ride-hailing service and what are its plans to increase its operation base, all the while outlining the benefits that it will avail from this strategic partnership.

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Image via Finextra