Microsoft Prepares the Launch of a Virtual Character that Interacts With The User

Microsoft is preparing the launch of a new Copilot virtual character that will interact in real-time with the user. It will be a highly personalized AI assistant that will have an identity, expressions, voice, and conversational memory, according to Microsoft’s AI CEO, Mustafa Suleyman. The virtual character responds to queries, smiles, nods, and even acts surprised depending on the conversation. The company provided a glimpse of the Copilot’s identity, as shown below. Mustafa Suleyman already worked at Inflection AI on a personalized chatbot called Pi. Most of the Inflection AI team joined Microsoft. https://iblnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/copilot-appearance-video-1.mp4

Universities Face an Existential Crisis Unless They Reinvent Themselves, Says a BCG Report

"Engineering Students Use AI as a Shortcut Rather Than a Learning Companion"

Blackboard LMS Adds a New Set of AI Capabilities Within its 'Anthology Virtual Assistant (AVA)'

Anthropic Launches Claude for Education In AWS Marketplace

Anthropic’s Claude for Education offering was made available in AWS Marketplace as a software-as-a-service solution this month. Claude for Enterprise and the Financial Analysis Solution were also released at the same space. AWS Marketplace’s main advantage is the streamlined procurement and billing process. According to the company, "Claude for Education equips every student with an adaptive study companion, faculty with an AI assistant for creating engaging teaching materials, and staff with an AI collaborator for tracking and analyzing student progress." Claude for Education uses Socratic questioning to guide students toward answers rather than providing direct responses. It includes single sign-on (SSO), native integrations with GitHub, Google Workspace, and Canvas LTI (with Panopto and Wiley integrations coming soon), and custom integrations through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). The pre-built MCP integrations include Atlassian (Jira/Confluence), Zapier, Linear, and Asana. It adds a 200K token context window, primarily for analysis of complex academic materials and research tasks in a single conversation, enterprise-grade security, and compliance. For example, a research team can upload multiple academic papers, datasets, and their own notes into a single Claude conversation. Claude maintains full context across all documents, enabling comprehensive analysis and synthesis that would typically require hours of manual work. Antropic highlighted that its key use cases include: Academic instruction and learning: Socratic questioning through Learning Mode Faculty support: Course development and content creation Research support: Literature review and data analysis assistance Student success support: Progress tracking, early intervention strategies, and personalized learning paths —— • Claude for Education in AWS Marketplace • Kim Majerus’s keynote at the AWS Imagine: Education, State, and Local Government conference.

Canvas LMS Adds to Its Platform an Agentic Solution, 'IgniteAI'

Instructure, the maker of Canvas LMS, announced last month the launch of its native AI solution called IgniteAI. Powered by AWS Bedrock, IgniteAI is embedded within Canvas and Mastery to conduct tasks such as creating quizzes, generating rubrics, summarizing discussions, and aligning content to outcomes. It also leverages the Model Context Protocol (MCP) standard and extends the LTI framework. This way, Canvas LMS' ecosystem of 1,100 edtech partners and LLMs like Anthropic and OpenAI can integrate their agentic AI solutions. IgniteAI emphasizes data protection compliance with COPPA, FERPA, and GDPR. In terms of accessibility, Canvas LMS and other products are achieving WCAG 2.2 AA compliance as part of a recent Voluntary Product Accessibility Test (VPAT). In addition, Instructure announced several updates to its product suite Canvas, featuring redesigned dashboards and modules, an improved mobile app, specialized STEM items, enhanced proctoring capabilities in New Quizzes, and new student portfolios that showcase diverse learning progress.  

OpenAI's GPT-5 Rollout Faced Backlash as Old Models Were Retired

OpenAI Introduces Its Flagship Model 'GPT-5', Making It the New Default in ChatGPT

Gemini Introduces Its Socratic-Style AI Assistant for Learners

Satya Nadella Explains the 9,000-Employee Layoff While Microsoft Thrives

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, rationalized the 9,000-employee layoff through a 1,150-word memo that highlighted how the company is thriving in terms of market performance, strategic positioning, and growth, while the AI-based disruption is taking place in the software industry. Progress isn’t linear. It’s dynamic, sometimes dissonant, and always demanding. But it’s also a new opportunity for us to shape, lead through, and have greater impact than ever before. In a double corporate language, Nadella tries to reconcile two contradictory realities: How can a company be “more successful than ever” while still eliminating jobs? "This narrative framework captures the harsh reality that AI, in theory, will make companies more profitable while employing fewer people," wrote San Francisco-based writer, photographer, and investor Om. Microsoft's CEO [in the picture above] implies that the laid-off employees are not due to financial struggles, but rather because those workers didn’t align with the company’s AI-focused strategy, suggesting that some employees’ skills have become outdated. Rather than invest in retraining, the company opted to hire fewer workers with more relevant expertise. "The Microsoft memo portends the new reality of the technology industry. For years, the sector has been generous to its employees, offering unheard-of perks and placing a premium on skills such as software development. AI, however, inverts that relationship," said Om.

Figma Makes Its AI Coding Tool 'Make' Available to All Users

Figma announced that its AI coding tool, Figma Make, for building prototypes and apps, is now available to all users, with limitations depending on the subscription plan. Figma Make, still in beta, features the ability to include design references. Users can upload an image alongside the description of what they want to create, and elements like formatting and font style can also be adjusted using additional prompts. Figma has introduced a credit system for using the platform’s AI tools. According to the company, View, Collab, and Dev Seat users can use AI features with lower credit limits. In addition to Figma Make, the company is promoting two other AI features: Make and Edit Image and Boost Resolution. These products are transitioning from beta to general availability.

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The AI-Native University

Blueprint for the Institution of the Future

A practical guide for leaders reimagining higher education with AI at the core — not as an add-on, but as the foundation for how students learn, faculty teach, and institutions govern.

By Mikel Amigot

Read the book