11 speeches that got the internet fired up in 2018

It’s one of the oldest forms of communication in the book, but a powerful speech can seriously light a fire under the internet. Some speeches may be interrupted, like that of Prince Harry who had a stand-off with a bumblebee during a speech about his dad. But most made their mark. They moved, infuriated, devastated,…

Published 6 years ago in 13th January 2019

By John

It’s one of the oldest forms of communication in the book, but a powerful speech can seriously light a fire under the internet.

Some speeches may be interrupted, like that of Prince Harry who had a stand-off with a bumblebee during a speech about his dad. But most made their mark. They moved, infuriated, devastated, shocked, and inspired folks on social media, making us cry or air-punch right at our desks.

SEE ALSO: 13 activists who gave us hope in 2018

Here’s some of the unforgettable speeches that got the internet fired up this year. If you missed one, now’s the time to catch up.

Emma Gonzalez’s March For Our Lives speech

Parkland activist Emma Gonzalez delivered an unforgettable and devastating address during the March For Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. in March. Most memorably, she stood in silent remembrance for six minutes and 20 seconds — the time it took a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to claim the lives of 17 of her fellow students.

Memorable quote:“In a little over six minutes, 17 of our friends were taken from us, 15 were injured, and everyone, absolutely everyone, was forever altered. Everyone who was there understands. Everyone who has been touched by the cold grip of gun violence understands.”

Natalie Portman’s stirring ‘Power of Women’ speech

There have been many empowering, applause-worthy speeches since the inception of Time’s Up, but Natalie Portman’s is worth noting. The Oscar-winning actress delivered one heck of a speech atVariety‘s “Power of Women” event in October, pulverising Harvey Weinstein before unpacking gender parity and diversity in the entertainment industry and other workforces.

Memorable quote: “Be embarrassed if everyone in your workplace looks like you.”

Donald Trump’s UN speech, which the world literally laughed at

There was a day in September, when the world literally laughed out loud at Donald Trump. During the president’s address to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump boasted that “my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.” Crowd guffawing ensued. But guys, Trump claimed hewantedeveryone to laugh. Nice try.

Memorable quote:I didn’t expect that reaction but it’s okay.”

Oprah’s powerful speech at the Golden Globes

An early speech for 2018, but one that would prove hard to beat. Oprah’s acceptance speech for the esteemed Cecil B. DeMille award at the Golden Globes in January made us cry — and inspired us to take action. Her powerful speech is a moving moment for Oprah herself, who changed the Hollywood landscape for women and people of color, but it became a larger rallying cry for the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. Plus, it made folks champion a 2020 presidential run like crazy.

Memorable quote:“For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up.”

Mindy Kaling’s burn-after-burn commencement speech

Mindy Kaling delivered multiple burns to Donald Trump during her Dartmouth commencement speech in June, along with some sage advice to deal with “graduating into a world where it s

Microsoft denies shutting down operations in China

Microsoft China denied it would cease operations in the country, after a screenshot of an internal email from Wicresoft, a Microsoft outsourcing partner, fueled speculation about a potential exit. On Monday, several employees of Wicresoft shared screenshots of layoff emails on social media. The email cites geopolitical tensions and shifts in the global business landscape

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How Microsoft’s AI chief measures consumer inroads for Copilot

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Published 1 month ago in 23rd May 2025

Business

How Microsoft’s AI chief measures consumer inroads for Copilot

REDMOND, Washington : As Microsoft CEOs past and present gathered here to celebrate the company’s 50th birthday, one leader said he is targeting a particular metric’s improvement to guide his strategy on artificial intelligence.

Mustafa Suleyman, chief executive of Microsoft AI, said his consumer and research division is tracking the usual measures of adoption for the company’s AI assistant called Copilot. These include daily and weekly active users, distribution, and usage intensity for Copilot’s consumer offering, he said.

But Suleyman’s interest lies elsewhere.

“I really, really focus the team on SSR, the rate of successful sessions,” he said in an interview.

In an older era when consumers gave less real-time feedback on software, the time they spent with a product – on social media, for instance – or the problems they could solve represented crude “proxies for quality,” he said.

“Now, we actually get to learn from the anonymized logs and extract the sentiment,” said Suleyman, who joined Microsoft about a year ago after leading the startup Inflection AI. Suleyman was one of the only Microsoft executives other than former CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer and current CEO Satya Nadella to speak on stage at Microsoft’s Friday event at its Redmond, Washington, headquarters.

Suleyman said Microsoft has tasked an AI model itself to assess such sentiment and help determine Copilot chats’ SSR.

“Over the last four months, it’s gone up dramatically, and that’s what we optimize for,” he said.

Suleyman declined to state the rate in absolute terms or disclose other Copilot metrics.

The company last fall announced a more amiable voice for its consumer Copilot and the ability to analyze web pages for users as they browse.

On Friday, Microsoft demonstrated further features for Copilot: personalized podcasts, a tool to help consumers research complex queries, and eventually a look for Copilot that can be custom to each user and conversation.

“I would definitely go for something that was cutesy,” said Suleyman, “like a little Furby-type thing.”

Source: Reuters

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