Microsoft opened its Build developer conference on Tuesday with a focus on AI tools and agents. The keynote in San Francisco featured multiple new models and hardware concepts.
CEO Satya Nadella highlighted tools like Scout, an always-on AI agent for Microsoft Teams and Outlook tasks. The company also introduced Microsoft Execution Containers to run agents such as OpenClaw in secure sandboxes. Seven new AI models were unveiled, including MAI-Image-2.5 for image generation and MAI-Thinking-1 for reasoning. Microsoft Discovery, an agentic platform for scientists, is now available with partners including BHP and GSK already testing it. Project Solara, an Android-based platform for agent-first devices, was demonstrated on concept hardware like a wearable badge and desk unit. A new quantum chip called Majorana 2 was also shown, with improved qubit lifetimes. Nadella said the company's Fairwater data center uses water equivalent to a single restaurant annually. Web IQ, a search system for AI agents, is already powering Copilot and ChatGPT.
