Cortana can be named Bingo if Steve Ballmer had his means

Steve Ballmer wished Microsoft’s Cortana AI to be known as “Bingo” so it might be extra Microsoft-branded, based on the Big Bets newsletter. That’s based on former Microsoft product supervisor Sandeep Paruchuri, who recounted the story of how Microsoft’s AI assistant received its identify to author Alice Newton Rex as a part of a deep dive into Cortana’s origins.

While we’ve gotten a reasonably good concept of Microsoft’s formidable imaginative and prescient for the AI assistant within the years because it leaked then launched, Paruchuri and Rex gave the within story of how Cortana was named, pitched to administration, and the conflict that occurred between desires and actuality. Also included are fascinating particulars about how the assistant grew to become one of many primary promoting factors for the doomed Windows Phone platform.

The article is an efficient reminder of the enjoyable origin story behind the assistant being branded as “Cortana” — the identify was taken from the Halo character (who can also be an AI, which isn’t complicated in any respect) and was solely supposed for use throughout improvement. It was truly alleged to be known as Alyx, based on Paruchuri, however when the identify leaked, Halo followers and tech writers had been so frenzied that Microsoft determined to formally dub the function as Cortana.

While not each a part of the AI’s story is as fascinating as Ballmer’s concept to call it after Microsoft’s a lot-beloved search engine (which he got here up with throughout his handoff of energy to present CEO Satya Nadella), the newsletter still an interesting read if you happen to’re keen on Cortana’s historical past or are searching for tips about how to not identify your product.