logo
Novata Announces Collaboration with Microsoft to Scale Sustainability Solutions for SMEs Globally

Novata Announces Collaboration with Microsoft to Scale Sustainability Solutions for SMEs Globally

Business Wire08-07-2025
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Novata, the private markets' sustainability management partner, today announced a collaboration with Microsoft. Novata will leverage Microsoft Azure AI Foundry - including Azure AI Search - and Microsoft Fabric to unlock new efficiencies and capabilities in its sustainability solutions, data management and reporting process for businesses globally, giving small and mid-sized Microsoft customers and supply chain partners access to Novata's pioneering sustainability technology solutions.
Collaboration Highlights:
Expand Access to Novata's Platform: Microsoft will become a key sales partner for Novata across its SME channel, making it easier for businesses to access Novata's platform and solutions, including the Carbon Navigator.
Co-Develop AI Technology: Novata and Microsoft will co-develop a range of AI-powered tools to simplify sustainability data collection and reporting for clients, as well as drive value creation.
Strengthen Supply Chain Reporting: Novata will help Microsoft suppliers meet their climate reporting obligations, providing companies with the tools needed to track, manage, and report sustainability metrics with greater accuracy, efficiency and affordability.
'We are excited to deepen our relationship with Microsoft, a company that has not only revolutionized productivity but has also been a leader in addressing the climate crisis and leveraging AI for good,' said Alex Friedman, CEO and Co-Founder of Novata. 'This collaboration expands our global reach and strengthens our commitment to providing trusted technology that simplifies sustainability data management, helping companies unlock growth opportunities and enhance their resilience in a rapidly changing world.'
Since its commercial launch in April 2022, Novata has experienced significant global demand for its all-in-one solution for sustainability data management, carbon accounting, regulatory reporting, and advisory services. Novata's platform is trusted and used by hundreds of GPs in private equity, growth equity, private credit, and venture capital, and more than 10,000 companies in all major geographies. Novata's clients manage over $12 trillion in assets.
"We believe that addressing climate change is both a responsibility and an important business opportunity," said Jeremy Pitman, Director of Partner Development, Digital Natives and ISVs – Tech for Social Impact at Microsoft. "Our collaboration with Novata will enable a key segment of our clients to seamlessly and affordably integrate cutting-edge sustainability technology into their operations, empowering them to reduce their carbon footprints and meet their emissions goals.'
Novata has been a portfolio company of Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund (CIF) since 2023, reinforcing the alignment of Novata's mission with Microsoft's commitment to advancing sustainability solutions. CIF is dedicated to accelerating the development and deployment of new climate innovations through both equity and debt capital.
As a certified B-Corp and Public Benefit Corporation, Novata is on a mission to empower private markets to achieve a more sustainable and inclusive form of capitalism. To learn more about the collaboration, visit Novata's website and follow Novata on LinkedIn to keep up with the company's latest news and insights.
About Novata
Novata is the private markets' sustainability management partner. We empower hundreds of investment firms and over 10,000 companies to achieve their sustainability goals with our trusted data management platform and advisory practice—because it's good for business and it's good for the planet. Learn more at www.novata.com.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Xbox Drops Work on ‘Contraband' Video Game After Four Years
Xbox Drops Work on ‘Contraband' Video Game After Four Years

Bloomberg

time16 minutes ago

  • Bloomberg

Xbox Drops Work on ‘Contraband' Video Game After Four Years

Microsoft Corp. 's Xbox gaming unit is canceling Contraband, a multiplayer video game that was in development for years at the Swedish company Avalanche Studios Group. 'Active development has now stopped while we evaluate the project's future,' Avalanche said Thursday in a statement on its website. 'We're thankful for the excitement we've seen from the community since we announced and will give an update on what's next as soon as we can.'

Microsoft's latest sneaky move promotes Copilot AI in Bing search, and I'm getting a bit sick of this kind of trickery
Microsoft's latest sneaky move promotes Copilot AI in Bing search, and I'm getting a bit sick of this kind of trickery

Yahoo

time34 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Microsoft's latest sneaky move promotes Copilot AI in Bing search, and I'm getting a bit sick of this kind of trickery

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Microsoft has a new (and somewhat duplicitous) promotion going on It happens when searching for a rival AI service on Bing A Copilot banner appears at the top of the results, and it's easy for users to mistakenly use that instead of the AI they were really looking for Microsoft is up to some sneaky tricks again in terms of promoting its own services, and this time it's Copilot AI, which is now being pushed on those using Bing search. As Windows Latest reports, if you go to and search for a major AI service that rivals Microsoft's own Copilot - meaning ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, or Claude AI - you'll get a Copilot banner popping up. This appears right at the top of the search, announcing that 'Your Copilot is here' and offering a prompt to ask Microsoft's AI 'anything'. You can then type a query in the presented box if you want, and it'll open up the Copilot website with the results. This behavior is implemented via the Bing search site itself, so it'll happen if you go to in any web browser (not just Edge). Analysis: spotlight and shade While the Copilot banner that Bing search serves up is labelled as 'Promoted by Microsoft', the company has chosen a very small font for that particular detail, so it's easy enough to miss. In fact, the way the search result is laid out in this scenario is quite deceptive in a few aspects. So, say you search for ChatGPT in Bing, the ChatGPT website is the top result (as you'd expect, of course), but the way the Copilot banner is perched right above it could trick you into thinking the query box is actually for ChatGPT. Some people might not realize that and then end up redirected to the Copilot website with their query, which is clearly the idea. If the Copilot banner was presented to the side, for example - out of the way - this would be much less likely to happen. Furthermore, if you leave the tab with the Bing search for ChatGPT (or the other mentioned AI services), and then return to it, the Copilot banner is actually highlighted in bright white, with the rest of the results greyed out. The banner is effectively spotlighted - check out the above screenshot to see what I mean - so people are even more likely to be drawn to it, especially if they aren't tech-savvy and don't really look at the page properly. All in all, this feels like a bit of unwelcome duplicity, but in truth, it's nothing new for Microsoft - or other tech giants, for that matter. Microsoft is particularly keen on prompting folks to use its Edge browser in one way or another, including if you try to download Chrome. Indeed, searching for Chrome in results in a very similar 'Promoted by Microsoft' banner at the top of the results (and we've seen even shadier moves than this in the past). And yes, Google pulls this sort of chicanery as well, and if you head to you'll be prompted to make use of its AI, Gemini, with a pop-up. That said, if you search for 'Copilot' on Google, you won't get Gemini inserted into the search results in the same way Microsoft does with Copilot in Bing. At any rate, while it's very unlikely this kind of promotional nonsense will ever go away, it's disappointing to see a somewhat more blatant example from Microsoft here - particularly in the highlighting of the Copilot query box, should you flick away from the active tab, and then switch back. You may also like... Chrome stretches its lead over the floundering Edge - and I'm not convinced Microsoft's big Copilot AI promises will save the browser Windows 11 fully streamlined in just two clicks? Talon utility promises to rip all the bloatware out of Microsoft's OS in a hassle-free way Microsoft embarrasses itself with Windows 10 pop-up that hogs the desktop urging an upgrade to Windows 11 – then promptly crashes

OpenAI releases GPT-5, calling it a ‘team of Ph.D. level experts in your pocket'
OpenAI releases GPT-5, calling it a ‘team of Ph.D. level experts in your pocket'

NBC News

timean hour ago

  • NBC News

OpenAI releases GPT-5, calling it a ‘team of Ph.D. level experts in your pocket'

OpenAI on Thursday released the newest version of the artificial intelligence model that powers its popular ChatGPT chatbot, with CEO Sam Altman promoting it as like having a 'team of Ph.D. level experts in your pocket.' The company said the new model, GPT-5, is its smartest and fastest to date with wide-ranging improvements to ChatGPT's skills in areas like coding, writing and taking on complex actions. The model has been eagerly anticipated by technologists as a leap forward in AI capabilities and a step toward the kind of superintelligent systems that almost every major technology company is now racing to build. OpenAI along with Microsoft, Meta, Google, Amazon and others have already plowed hundreds of billions of dollars into AI investment, with some projections of future spending reaching into the trillions. But GPT-5's new abilities appear to be largely refinements to features that ChatGPT and other AI systems already have. During a briefing Wednesday with the news media, OpenAI did not share any benchmark evaluations or tests that would rank GPT-5's abilities against those of other models — as is common in many AI product releases. A spokesperson told NBC News that there are still 'key limitations in areas like persistent memory, autonomy, and adaptability across tasks.' GPT-5 is free for everyone. But users in paid tiers will get higher usage limits, as well as access to GPT-5 Pro. Altman said he believes the new model is so smart that going back to its predecessor GPT-4, which launched in 2023, feels 'quite miserable' in comparison. 'It reminds me of when the iPhone went from those giant-pixel old ones to the retina display, and then I went back to using one of those big pixelated things,' Altman said. 'And I was like, 'Wow, I can't believe how bad we had it.'' Starting Thursday, ChatGPT users will also be able to choose a custom color for chats, pick from a selection of pre-set personalities and connect their ChatGPT to Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Contacts. GPT-5 comes as OpenAI looks to find an edge in the global AI race that has pushed tech companies to roll out sweeping advancements in recent years, with full support from their respective governments. As generative and "agentic" (AI that can autonomously take actions on a user's behalf) AI tools grow ever more sophisticated, they've been met with a mix of excitement and ethical concerns across industries. The world has seen rapid technological advancements since ChatGPT launched to the public in November 2022, when it was powered by GPT-3.5, and kicked off the generative AI boom that now dominates Silicon Valley. ChatGPT boasts over 700 million users. Today, powerful large language models are integrated into everything from regular chatbots to agentic assistants and photorealistic video generators. OpenAI's post-training lead, Yann Dubois, said GPT-5 opens up 'a whole new world of vibe coding,' or the ability for noncoders to create fully deployable websites and apps just by describing what they want to build and letting an AI agent do the work. Altman said he believes GPT-5's ability to 'instantaneously create an entire piece of computer software for you' will likely be a core part of its appeal and use. 'I think this idea of software on demand will be a defining part of the new GPT-5 era,' he said. Earlier this summer, Altman compared contemporary AI agents to an 'intern that can work for a couple of hours.' He went on to predict that 'at some point, it'll be like an experienced software engineer that can work for days.' Such tools have already begun to displace white-collar jobs, rousing distress from job seekers. GPT-5 dropped amid an already buzzy week for AI companies. OpenAI had just released two new open-weight models, or models that other developers can download and use for free, on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Anthropic dropped Claude Opus 4.1, an upgrade to its powerful Opus 4 model, and Google released its interactive world simulation model Genie 3. Nick Turley, OpenAI's head of ChatGPT, said the company is confident GPT-5 will be more accurate and produce fewer hallucinations, a term for false or misleading information that AI models present as fact. He said the company has made significant improvements on toning down sycophancy, a problem that has plagued ChatGPT in the past. The AI giant recently rolled back an update to GPT-4o that made the bot so overly agreeable that it praised users to the point of sounding disingenuous, and even went so far as to endorse and give instructions for terrorism. Just this week, OpenAI also added guardrails to make its models refrain from giving direct advice about personal challenges. GPT-5 went through 5,000 hours of red teaming, or expert-led safety testing, according to the company's safety research lead, Alex Beutel. Beutel added that the model will be less deceptive than previous versions, meaning it should be less likely to lie to users about things like completing a task it hadn't actually completed. OpenAI also developed a new method, which it dubbed 'safe completions,' to prevent people from trying to get around safety guardrails by tailoring their questions in ways that trick the model into aiding in a harmful request. 'So if someone [asks] how much energy is needed to ignite some specific material, that could be an adversary trying to get around the safety protections and cause harm, or it could be a student asking a science question to understand the physics of this material,' Beutel said. 'And this creates a real challenge. What's the best way for the model to reply?' In the past, ChatGPT would either respond or refuse to respond based on whether it thinks the question is safe to answer. GPT-5, however, will take a new approach: Rather than choosing between compliance and refusal, it will try to always 'give as helpful an answer as possible, but within the constraints of remaining safe.' Online, there's been some buzz around what GPT-5 will reveal about humanity's ability to achieve 'artificial general intelligence,' or AGI, a hypothetical benchmark at which point AI will be fully capable of doing any intellectual task that a human can. Altman, who has been vocal about his optimism for the potential to reach AGI, said GPT-5 isn't there just yet. While the model is generally highly intelligent, he said, it's still missing a key ability to learn continuously without being retrained. 'But the level of intelligence here, the level of capability, it feels like a huge improvement,' Altman said. 'And certainly, if I could go back five years before GPT-3 and tell me we have this now, I'd be like, 'That's a significant fraction of the way to something very AGI-like.''

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store