Vodafone Group Plc has signed an agreement with Microsoft Corp. to invest $1.5 billion over the next decade.
This agreement aims to develop a range of businesses, including artificial intelligence, digital payments and IoT.
Read more: Artificial intelligence drives investment in cybersecurity
As part of the deal, Vodafone will use OpenAI technology running on Azure to improve customer service functions, including a chatbot for consumers, and Vodafone employees will have access to Microsoft Copilot, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday.
CEO Margherita Della Valle aims to streamline operations. Partnership allows Vodafone to promote Microsoft services, including Azure and Teams. Microsoft invests in Vodafone’s IoT (Internet of Things). CTO Scott Petty says Generative AI opens up new possibilities. Microsoft is getting $13 billion for Copilot AI . Enterprise customers pay $30 per user per month.
For a brief period after the dot-com boom, Vodafone’s value rose to a level similar to Microsoft’s. However, over the past two decades, the fortunes of the two companies have diverged as the telecoms sector faces challenges in generating revenue to meet its large investments in network infrastructure. At the same time, Microsoft invested in OpenAI, putting the software company at the forefront of artificial intelligence and helping it surpass Apple Inc., making it the most valuable company on the stock market.
See also: Artificial Intelligence at the Center of Apple's Plans
Vodafone will move its popular mobile money service M-Pesa to Azure, offering new cloud -based capabilities . M-Pesa is one of the largest mobile financial services in seven African countries, with over 51 million customers.
This move is part of Vodafone's strategy to expand services and provide even more innovation and value to its customers.
Source: bloomberg.com
