Day: 5 September 2023

New generative AI-powered assistant helps improve collaboration and productivity

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 05, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) announced that Zoom AI Companion (formerly Zoom IQ), the company’s generative AI digital assistant, is now included at no additional cost for customers with the paid services in their Zoom user accounts¹. AI Companion reinforces Zoom’s vision to deliver limitless human connection on one platform, empowering people by increasing their productivity, enhancing their skills, and improving team effectiveness. Zoom also announced today that Zoom IQ for Sales, its conversational intelligence software, will be renamed Zoom Revenue Accelerator.

Since Zoom introduced generative AI in early June, thousands of companies have benefited from free trials of Team Chat compose and Meeting summary. Beginning this fall, Zoom will significantly expand its generative AI offering across its platform with the launch of AI Companion, at no additional cost with paid Zoom user accounts.

Zoom’s federated approach to AI delivers high-quality results and lowers costs by dynamically incorporating its own large language models, along with third-party models such as Meta Llama 2, OpenAI, and Anthropic.

Rooted in this unique approach, Zoom AI Companion delivers powerful, real-time digital assistant capabilities to help users improve productivity and work together more effectively. Zoom customers can expect to see AI Companion throughout the entire platform, from Meetings, Team Chat, Phone, Email, and Whiteboard, with additional features on the roadmap.

“We are transcending the hype in generative AI by delivering tangible products and disrupting the industry’s pricing model, making it easy for businesses and people like you and me to leverage generative AI’s full benefits in our day-to-day work,” said Smita Hashim, chief product officer at Zoom. “We were founded on doing what’s right for our customers, and we firmly believe that offering Zoom AI Companion at no additional cost to our paid Zoom user accounts delivers tremendous value as we all navigate the challenges facing us today. We are excited to see our customers and users start using AI Companion and about our strong roadmap for further innovation underpinned by a commitment to responsible AI.”

How Zoom is Putting Customer Privacy First with Generative AI

Zoom’s goal is to invest in AI-driven innovation that enhances user experience and productivity while prioritizing trust, safety, and privacy. In August, Zoom shared that it does not use any customer audio, video, chat, screen-sharing, attachments, or other communications-like customer content (such as poll results, whiteboards, or reactions) to train Zoom’s or third-party artificial intelligence models. Additionally, AI Companion is turned off by default — account owners and administrators control whether to enable these AI features for their accounts. Zoom provides admins and users control and visibility when AI features are being used or activated. By putting its customers’ privacy needs first, Zoom is taking a leadership position, enabling its customers to use AI Companion and its capabilities with confidence.

Modern Work Powered by Zoom AI Companion

AI Companion makes it easy and frictionless to collaborate and become more productive, removing repetitive tasks and distractions, and helping teams collaborate more effectively.

AI Companion incorporates several new real-time AI capabilities immediately, with additional capabilities expected to launch over the next few months. AI Companion is transforming modern work in the following ways:

• With Zoom Meetings, users can watch recordings faster through highlights and smart chapters, and review summaries and next steps, so they can easily catch up on a missed meeting. In the meeting, if enabled by the meeting host, attendees can catch up quickly without disrupting the meeting flow by discreetly submitting questions via the in-meeting AI Companion side panel to receive an AI-generated answer on what they missed. Post-meeting, hosts can receive an automated meeting summary to share with attendees and those who were unable to attend a meeting. These capabilities help team members who may be in different time zones catch up asynchronously. Planned for spring 2024, users will also have the ability to receive real-time feedback on their presence in meetings, as well as coaching on their conversational and presentation skills.
• Zoom Team Chat is critical for real-time and asynchronous work, but it is easy to get lost in the volume of messages. AI Companion allows users to quickly draft messages based on the context of a chat thread, as well as change tone and length, so they can spend less time composing replies. In the coming weeks, users will be able to catch up on long chat threads through generative AI summarization, and by early 2024, users will have the ability to auto-complete chat sentences and schedule meetings from a chat.
• This fall, Zoom Whiteboard users will get help from AI Companion with generating and categorizing ideas, and by spring 2024, users will be able to harness their whiteboard content to generate images and populate whiteboard templates.
• Additionally, in early fall, Zoom Mail users will be able to get draft email suggestions. By spring 2024, users will be able to add meeting summaries to Zoom Notes and summarize SMS threads and calls with Zoom Phone.
• In spring 2024, users will be able to interact with AI Companion through a conversational interface that will be able to understand the context of questions and support users with their content across the Zoom platform, such as prior meetings, chats, and select connected third-party apps, even initiating actions on their behalf. For example, users will be able to interact with AI Companion to get help with:
  • Pre-meeting preparation: Ask AI Companion to find the status of key projects to prepare for an upcoming customer meeting. AI Companion will be able to surface knowledge from meetings, chats, whiteboards, emails, documents, and, with users’ permission, from third-party applications on behalf of the user, to provide the latest updates.
  • In-meeting real-time support: Ask AI Companion real-time questions during the meeting to catch up on key points in the discussion, create and file a support ticket on an issue raised during a call, or provide a draft response to a question raised during the meeting.
  • Post meeting: Ask AI Companion to summarize the meeting that was held, automatically identify action items and key stakeholders, and surface the next steps to the relevant stakeholders in Team Chat or, with users’ permission, in their third-party applications.

Easy intuitive interface

Users will be able to access AI Companion from within their existing workflows such as within Zoom Meetings, Zoom Team Chat, and Zoom Whiteboard for capabilities such as Meeting summaries, Team Chat compose, and Whiteboard generation with a simple, easy-to-use experience. Starting now, users can additionally have interactive capabilities with AI Companion via a side panel by accessing these directly within the Meetings experience; this capability will expand across the Zoom platform in spring 2024, as capabilities are added.

For more information on AI Companion, visit the Zoom website.

About Zoom
Zoom is an all-in-one intelligent collaboration platform that makes connecting easier, more immersive, and more dynamic for businesses and individuals. Zoom technology puts people at the center, enabling meaningful connections, facilitating modern collaboration, and driving human innovation through solutions like team chat, phone, meetings, omnichannel cloud contact center, smart recordings, whiteboard, and more, in one offering. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ:ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Get more info at zoom.com.

Zoom Public Relations
Lacretia Taylor
press@zoom.us

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^{¹ Zoom AI Companion may not be available for select verticals and select regional customers.}

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8916139

Collaboration furthers Zenas’ vision to bring innovative immunology-based medicines to patients around the world by leveraging Bristol Myers Squibb’s long-standing expertise in immune-mediated diseases

Zenas will receive a $50 million up-front cash payment and an equity investment from Bristol Myers Squibb, along with additional potential milestone-based payments and royalties in the licensed territory

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 05, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zenas BioPharma, a global biopharmaceutical company committed to becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of immunology-based therapies, today announced that it has entered into a license and collaboration agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb Company to develop and commercialize obexelimab for autoimmune diseases in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

Obexelimab is an investigational bifunctional, non-cytolytic, humanized monoclonal antibody that binds CD19 and FcγRIIb to inhibit B cells, plasmablasts, and CD19-expressing plasma cells. Obexelimab is currently being studied as a subcutaneous injection in a global Phase III trial in patients with IgG4-Related Disease (IgG4-RD), a disease for which there are currently no approved treatments. The compound is also being studied in a global Phase II/III trial in patients with warm antibody Auto-Immune Hemolytic Anemia (wAIHA).

“This collaboration marks an important step forward in realizing our vision for obexelimab to benefit patients living with auto immune diseases globally,” said Lonnie Moulder, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zenas BioPharma. “The deeply experienced and passionate team at Bristol Myers Squibb is an ideal partner based on their proven development, regulatory and commercial capabilities in Japan and throughout the licensed territory.”

“This collaboration represents an important opportunity to address unmet needs for people living with IgG4-RD, for which there are no approved treatment options,” said Steve Sugino, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Japan, Bristol Myers Squibb. “We are excited to work with Zenas BioPharma to expand the reach of obexelimab in the licensed territory and to make an impact on the lives of patients that are waiting.”

Under the terms of the license agreement, Zenas will receive a $50 million up-front cash payment and is eligible to receive additional payments in connection with the achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones, as well as royalties on net sales of obexelimab in the licensed territory. In exchange, Bristol Myers Squibb will receive exclusive rights to develop and commercialize obexelimab in the licensed territory. In addition, Bristol Myers Squibb is making an equity investment in Zenas.

About Obexelimab

Obexelimab is an investigational Phase 3-stage, bifunctional, non-cytolytic, humanized monoclonal antibody that mimics the action of antigen-antibody complexes by binding CD19 and FcγRIIb to inhibit B-lineage cell activity. In several early-stage clinical studies, including in various autoimmune diseases, 198 subjects were treated with obexelimab. In these clinical studies, obexelimab demonstrated inhibition of B cell function without depleting the cells, resulting in encouraging treatment effect in patients with various autoimmune diseases. Zenas acquired exclusive worldwide rights to obexelimab from Xencor, Inc.

More information on the Phase 3 (INDIGO) study for the treatment of IgG4 Related Disease is available at clinicaltrials.gov: NCT05662241. More information on the Phase 3 (SApHiAre) study is available at clinicaltrials.gov: NCT05786573.

About IgG4-related disease

IgG4-RD is a chronic, immune-mediated fibro-inflammatory disease that can affect multiple organs including the major salivary glands, orbits, lacrimal glands, pancreas, biliary tree, lungs, kidneys, and retroperitoneum. Approximately 20,000 patients are diagnosed with IgG4-RD in the United States alone. Despite its increasing recognition, there remains a need for further research and effective therapeutic options for individuals living with this debilitating disease.

Across the world, the use of glucocorticoids is widely considered to be the standard of care for treating IgG4-RD. There are no approved treatment options for this condition. While commonly used, glucocorticoids and available B cell depleting therapies rarely lead to long-term, treatment-free remissions, and are associated with a high risk of toxicity in these patients. Such therapies may also impair vaccine responses, including those for SARS-CoV-2 and influenza.

About Zenas BioPharma

Zenas BioPharma is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of immunology-based therapies for patients around the world. With clinical development and operations globally, Zenas is advancing a deep and balanced global portfolio of potential first- and best-in-class autoimmune therapeutics in areas of high unmet medical need while meeting the value requirements of the dynamic global healthcare environment. The company’s pipeline continues to grow through our successful business development strategy. Our experienced leadership team and network of business partners drive operational excellence to deliver potentially transformative therapies to improve the lives of those facing autoimmune and rare diseases. For more information about Zenas BioPharma, please visit www.zenasbio.com and follow us on Twitter at @ZenasBioPharma and LinkedIn.

Investor and Media Contact:
Joe Farmer, President & COO
Zenas BioPharma
IR@zenasbio.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8916029