In a recent keynote at Oracle’s flagship ‘CloudWorld’ event on Wednesday, Larry Ellison, the 79-year-old CTO and Co-founder of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), emphasized the transformational potential of Generative AI and announced a significant partnership with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Cloud. He also acknowledged the associated risks that accompany the rapid development of this technology.
Ellison's remarks followed Oracle's surprising venture into generative AI, which has led to a fundamental shift in the company's operations. The software giant is moving towards autonomous databases that install, configure, and update themselves, thereby increasing security by eliminating human errors and shrinking teams. Ellison noted that generative AI was "changing everything at Oracle."
The tech mogul also reflected on the impact of OpenAI's ChatGPT, which was unveiled about a year ago. The AI's ability to engage in conversation was an unexpected development that captured the imagination of developers and professionals worldwide.
During his address, Ellison announced 'MultiCloud', a collaboration between Microsoft Cloud and Oracle Cloud. This partnership will see Oracle hardware and software installed in Microsoft Azure data centers and Oracle databases hosted on Exadata hardware. The collaboration aims to offer seamless service for customers using both cloud services.
Ellison recalled a conversation with Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, where they agreed on the importance of open and interconnected cloud services. He emphasized that there should be no barrier between Microsoft Cloud and Oracle Cloud, reinforcing their commitment to interoperability initiated in 2019.
Oracle's shift towards generative AI also extends to healthcare applications. The company acquired electronic health record (EHR) company Cerner (NASDAQ:CERN) for US$28 billion in June 2022. At the Oracle Health Conference held alongside CloudWorld, Oracle showcased its suite of AI-powered healthcare apps, including a voice-recognition digital assistant designed to revolutionize doctor-patient interactions.
Despite not having a large language model like Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Meta (NASDAQ:META), or OpenAI, Oracle is leveraging partnerships with foundational model owners such as Cohere to gain a competitive edge. However, research firm IDC's associate vice-president, Deepika Giri, suggests that Oracle's first-mover advantage could be short-lived.
Oracle's partnership with Microsoft Azure, announced just days before CloudWorld, allows Oracle to offer its hardware and software on Microsoft's Azure databases. This move has been seen as significant in the industry, given Oracle's growing presence in the cloud infrastructure services sector since 2016.
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