Microsoft partners with Aptos, will explore digital payments and tokenization

Aptos Labs, the Layer 1 blockchain created by former Meta employees, has announced a new partnership with tech giant Microsoft.

Aside from the two companies exploring “innovative solutions” related to asset tokenization, digital payments and central bank digital currencies, Aptos will also utilize Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service.

It appears, in the beginning, much of the partnership will be centered around using Microsoft’s artificial intelligence capabilities to both ease the process of onboarding users to web3 and aid “developers as they build smart contracts and decentralized apps,” the two companies said in a statement.

Using Microsoft’s AI, Aptos said it will introduce Aptos Assistant, a “user-friendly and secure” digital assistant that can answer questions regarding the Aptos blockchain.

Once a highly-anticipated launch, Aptos' mainnet went live last year.

Microsoft x Aptos: AI and crypto unite

Earlier this year, Microsoft made a big splash in AI when it invested $10 billion in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT.

“The intersection of AI and blockchain is one of the most interesting combinations of emerging technologies,” said Rashmi Misra, Microsoft’s general manager of AI & emerging technologies. “By fusing Aptos Labs' technology with the Microsoft Azure Open AI Service capabilities, we aim to democratize the use of blockchain enabling users to seamlessly onboard to web3 and innovators to develop new exciting decentralized applications using AI.”

Microsoft grabbed headlines again a few months ago with reports the company was working on a non-custodial crypto wallet for its Edge browser. So far, big tech companies like Microsoft have tread with relative caution concerning partnerships and ventures related to advancing blockchain technology.

AI and blockchain “are both generational breakthroughs that profoundly impact the evolution of the internet,” said Aptos CEO Mo Shaikh. “Together with Microsoft, our shared vision is to ensure that this technology is accessible to more people and organizations than ever before.”