Duke Health and Microsoft announced a five-year partnership to examine the potential of generative AI and cloud technology to improve healthcare, and to create the Duke Health AI Innovation Lab and Center of Excellence. 

Microsoft will train Duke to develop a cloud-savvy IT workforce and construct a secure cloud environment. At the same time, Duke will utilize Microsoft's Azure cloud for clinical care, further advancements in research and education, and promote health equity. 

The partners will also create the Duke Health AI Innovation Lab and Center of Excellence, aimed at responsible and ethical AI and cloud technology deployment.

"The partnership is a milestone in the evolution of digital health care," Dr. Jeffrey Ferranti, senior vice president and chief digital officer of Duke Health, said in a statement. "Our unrivaled expertise in data science, patient care, and technology innovation synergizes perfectly with Microsoft's healthcare solutions and AI technology. Together, we are poised to propel Duke into the forefront of digitally-focused health systems while simultaneously studying the reliability and safety of generative AI in healthcare."

THE LARGER TREND

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced a partnership with OpenAI, Google and AI safety and research company Anthropic to form the Frontier Model Forum. This body will focus on ensuring the safe and responsible development of large-scale machine learning models capable of surpassing the capabilities of current AI models, also known as frontier models. 

In June, Stanford Medicine and the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence announced its launch of Responsible AI for Safe and Equitable Health (RAISE-Health), aimed to decipher ethical and safety issues in AI innovation, convene experts on the topic and define standards for the industry.