Microsoft is creating AI tech services for sports with new partners

Microsoft is partnering up with LaLiga and Globant to create a new AI tech service for sports; it will include coaching tools, content translation and more.

LaLiga has a long history of collaboration with Microsoft, and last year it established a joint venture with Globant to hasten the development and commercialization of ideas from its own LaLiga Tech division.

LaLiga will develop a set of tools for coaching, fan engagement, and broadcasting through its most recent agreement, initially with an emphasis on soccer before extending to other sports including basketball, rugby union, and tennis.

Microsoft will grant LaLiga Tech access to Microsoft Azure's OpenAI Service, which includes cutting-edge models like OpenAI GPT-4, Azure's assortment of commercial services, and AI-optimized cloud infrastructure, to assist in delivering and developing these products.

Early initiatives include near-real-time multilingual subtitles and automatic sports material translations that will enable sports organizations of all sizes to reach a broader global audience in order to increase accessibility to live events for spectators with hearing impairments.

LaLiga will use GPT to develop new sorts of material for fans and the teams in an effort to increase fan interaction. It will also add new real-time information to its current MediaCoach tool.

The joint venture with Globant seeks to combine IT and sports business knowledge while utilizing cutting-edge technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI). The Buenos Aires-based Globant also collaborates with FIFA and the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).