Microsoft's Zo Chatbot Is Official

Zo, a new chatbot from Microsoft, recently showed up in the Kik messaging app and now it's been officially introduced. This is the second English social chatbot Microsoft has released to the public. Tay was the first, but it had to be shut down due to inappropriate behavior on Twitter and other platforms.

This bot is described as an English language version of Xiaoice, a social chatbot that launched in China in May 2014.

Zo has so far chatted with around 100,000 people through Kik since its launch earlier in December. Microsoft plans to bring the bot to other platforms like Skype and Facebook Messenger.

Zo is built using the vast social content of the Internet. She learns from human interactions to respond emotionally and intelligently, providing a unique viewpoint, along with manners and emotional expressions. But she also has strong checks and balances in place to protect her from exploitation.

- Microsoft