Coca-Cola pours $1.1B into generative AI experiment with Microsoft

Microsoft plans to leverage capabilities such as Copilot for Microsoft 365 and Azure OpenAI Service to support AI innovation for the Coca‑Cola Company and its global network of independent bottlers. To create and integrate AI use cases across diverse business processes, The Coca-Cola Company and Microsoft have struck a five-year contract.

Coca-Cola gave Microsoft Cloud $1.1 billion in exchange for its cloud computing and generative AI capabilities. In order “to develop innovative generative AI use cases across various business functions,” both companies will collaborate to experiment with Azure OpenAI Service and other technologies.

The Microsoft Copilot Microsoft 365 AI assistant will also tested by the firms to see if it can increase efficiency at work. Coca-Cola moved all of its apps to Microsoft Azure as part of the drive. Microsoft’s chief commercial officer and executive vice president, Judson Althoff, stated:

“Through our long-term partnership, we have made significant progress to accelerate system-wide AI Transformation across The Coca‑Cola Company and its network of independent bottlers worldwide.”

Coca-Cola and Microsoft Forge Strategic AI Partnership

Coca-Cola is currently looking into the use of generative AI-powered digital assistants to enhance customer experience performance metrics, optimize operations, and boost efficiency, among other goals. This is being done through the usage of Azure OpenAI Service.

The AI collaboration between Microsoft and Coca-Cola began in 2020 with a $250 million contract. “The Coca-Cola Company’s global chief information officer and senior vice president Neeraj Tolmare stated that Microsoft’s capabilities help accelerate our adoption of AI to create incremental enterprise value.”

Mustafa Suleyman, the Executive Vice President and CEO of Microsoft AI, emphasized the area’s wealth of AI talent and experience when he announced the company’s commitment to a significant, long-term investment in the UK on April 9. Suleyman revealed intentions to create a new AI hub in the UK in a blog post to advance the advancement of AI language models and the infrastructure that supports them. He said that hiring top scientists and engineers in AI would be part of this initiative. It would also develop tooling for foundation models and engage with its AI teams throughout the world and partners such as OpenAI.