Patents by Inventor Eric J. Horvitz

Eric J. Horvitz has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20260236780
    Abstract: This document relates to automated generation of machine learning models, such as neural networks. One example system includes a hardware processing unit and a storage resource. The storage resource can store computer-readable instructions cause the hardware processing unit to perform an iterative model-growing process that involves modifying parent models to obtain child models. The iterative model-growing process can also include selecting candidate layers to include in the child models based at least on weights learned in an initialization process of the candidate layers. The system can also output a final model selected from the child models.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2026
    Publication date: August 13, 2026
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Debadeepta DEY, Hanzhang HU, Richard A. CARUANA, John C. LANGFORD, Eric J. HORVITZ
  • Patent number: 12626141
    Abstract: This document relates to automated generation of machine learning models, such as neural networks. One example system includes a hardware processing unit and a storage resource. The storage resource can store computer-readable instructions cause the hardware processing unit to perform an iterative model-growing process that involves modifying parent models to obtain child models. The iterative model-growing process can also include selecting candidate layers to include in the child models based at least on weights learned in an initialization process of the candidate layers. The system can also output a final model selected from the child models.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2026
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Debadeepta Dey, Hanzhang Hu, Richard A. Caruana, John C. Langford, Eric J. Horvitz
  • Publication number: 20260017862
    Abstract: This document relates to automated analysis of images. One example method involves obtaining an image and text associated with the image, detecting two or more objects in the image, and determining respective locations of the two or more detected objects in the image. The example method also involves determining whether a spatial relationship between the two or more detected objects matches a corresponding spatial relationship expressed by the text based at least on the respective locations of the two or more detected objects. The example method also involves outputting a value reflecting whether the spatial relationship between the two or more detected objects matches the corresponding spatial relationship expressed by the text.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2025
    Publication date: January 15, 2026
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Hamid PALANGI, Besmira NUSHI, Vibhav VINEET, Eric J. HORVITZ, Semiha E. KAMAR EDEN, Tejas GOKHALE
  • Patent number: 12444106
    Abstract: This document relates to automated analysis of images. One example method involves obtaining an image and text associated with the image, detecting two or more objects in the image, and determining respective locations of the two or more detected objects in the image. The example method also involves determining whether a spatial relationship between the two or more detected objects matches a corresponding spatial relationship expressed by the text based at least on the respective locations of the two or more detected objects. The example method also involves outputting a value reflecting whether the spatial relationship between the two or more detected objects matches the corresponding spatial relationship expressed by the text.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2025
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Hamid Palangi, Besmira Nushi, Vibhav Vineet, Eric J. Horvitz, Semiha E. Kamar Eden, Tejas Gokhale
  • Publication number: 20250298500
    Abstract: A computing system is provided that includes processing circuitry and associated memory. The processing circuitry is configured to implement a program using portions of the associated memory, to receive, via an edit operation, digital content and provenance metadata associated with the digital content. The processing circuitry implementing the program is further configured to determine, via a provenance determination module, that a textual portion of the digital content is model-generated and originated from a generative model, based on the provenance metadata, and output the digital content to a graphical user interface with a visual indication that the textual portion of the digital content is model-generated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2024
    Publication date: September 25, 2025
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Eric J. HORVITZ, Paul ENGLAND, Patrick W.J. EVANS
  • Publication number: 20250140349
    Abstract: A computing system for conditional generation of protein sequences includes processing circuitry that implements a denoising diffusion probabilistic model. In an inference phase, the processing circuitry receives an instruction to generate a predicted protein sequence having a target functionality, the instruction including first conditional information and second conditional information. The processing circuitry concatenates a first conditional information embedding generated by a first encoder and a second conditional information embedding generated by a second encoder to produce a concatenated conditional information embedding. The processing circuitry samples noise from a distribution function and combines the concatenated conditional information embedding with the sampled noise to produce a noisy concatenated input.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2023
    Publication date: May 1, 2025
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Bruce James WITTMANN, Eric J. HORVITZ, Rohan Vishesh KOODLI
  • Patent number: 12164580
    Abstract: The technology described herein builds an optimal refresh schedule by minimizing a cost function constrained by an available refresh bandwidth. The cost function receives an importance score for a content item and a change rate for the content item as input in order to optimize the schedule. The cost function is considered optimized when a refresh schedule is found that minimizes the cost while using the available bandwidth and no more. The technology can build an optimized schedule to refresh content with incomplete change data, content with complete change data, or a mixture of content with and without complete change data. It can also re-learn content item change rates from its own schedule execution history and re-compute the refresh schedule, ensuring that this schedule takes into account the latest trends in content item updates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Andrey Kolobov, Cheng Lu, Eric J. Horvitz, Yuval Peres
  • Publication number: 20240403992
    Abstract: Systems and methods to determine when a media is a high-fidelity reproduction of an original media from a trusted entity are disclosed. In certain aspects, systems and method for generating a fragile watermark are disclosed. The fragile watermark may be inserted into digital media in a manner such that the watermark cannot be identified if the media content is significantly altered. Media content may be subsequently analyzed to determine the presence of a fragile watermark. When the fragile watermark is present, provenance of the media content can be verified and an indication of provenance is provided to the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2024
    Publication date: December 5, 2024
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Henrique S. MALVAR, Paul ENGLAND, Eric J. HORVITZ
  • Patent number: 12086898
    Abstract: Systems and methods to determine when a media is a high-fidelity reproduction of an original media from a trusted entity are disclosed. In certain aspects, systems and method for generating a fragile watermark are disclosed. The fragile watermark may be inserted into digital media in a manner such that the watermark cannot be identified if the media content is significantly altered. Media content may be subsequently analyzed to determine the presence of a fragile watermark. When the fragile watermark is present, provenance of the media content can be verified and an indication of provenance is provided to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Henrique S. Malvar, Paul England, Eric J. Horvitz
  • Publication number: 20240203005
    Abstract: This document relates to automated analysis of images. One example method involves obtaining an image and text associated with the image, detecting two or more objects in the image, and determining respective locations of the two or more detected objects in the image. The example method also involves determining whether a spatial relationship between the two or more detected objects matches a corresponding spatial relationship expressed by the text based at least on the respective locations of the two or more detected objects. The example method also involves outputting a value reflecting whether the spatial relationship between the two or more detected objects matches the corresponding spatial relationship expressed by the text.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 17, 2023
    Publication date: June 20, 2024
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Hamid PALANGI, Besmira NUSHI, Vibhav VINEET, Eric J. HORVITZ, Semiha E. KAMAR EDEN, Tejas GOKHALE
  • Publication number: 20230115700
    Abstract: This document relates to automated generation of machine learning models, such as neural networks. One example system includes a hardware processing unit and a storage resource. The storage resource can store computer-readable instructions cause the hardware processing unit to perform an iterative model-growing process that involves modifying parent models to obtain child models. The iterative model-growing process can also include selecting candidate layers to include in the child models based at least on weights learned in an initialization process of the candidate layers. The system can also output a final model selected from the child models.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2022
    Publication date: April 13, 2023
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Debadeepta DEY, Hanzhang HU, Richard A. CARUANA, John C. LANGFORD, Eric J. HORVITZ
  • Patent number: 11556778
    Abstract: This document relates to automated generation of machine learning models, such as neural networks. One example system includes a hardware processing unit and a storage resource. The storage resource can store computer-readable instructions cause the hardware processing unit to perform an iterative model-growing process that involves modifying parent models to obtain child models. The iterative model-growing process can also include selecting candidate layers to include in the child models based at least on weights learned in an initialization process of the candidate layers. The system can also output a final model selected from the child models.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Debadeepta Dey, Hanzhang Hu, Richard A. Caruana, John C. Langford, Eric J. Horvitz
  • Publication number: 20220358171
    Abstract: The technology described herein builds an optimal refresh schedule by minimizing a cost function constrained by an available refresh bandwidth. The cost function receives an importance score for a content item and a change rate for the content item as input in order to optimize the schedule. The cost function is considered optimized when a refresh schedule is found that minimizes the cost while using the available bandwidth and no more. The technology can build an optimized schedule to refresh content with incomplete change data, content with complete change data, or a mixture of content with and without complete change data. It can also re-learn content item change rates from its own schedule execution history and re-compute the refresh schedule, ensuring that this schedule takes into account the latest trends in content item updates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2022
    Publication date: November 10, 2022
    Inventors: Andrey KOLOBOV, Cheng LU, Eric J. HORVITZ, Yuval PERES
  • Patent number: 11379539
    Abstract: The technology described herein builds an optimal refresh schedule by minimizing a cost function constrained by an available refresh bandwidth. The cost function receives an importance score for a content item and a change rate for the content item as input in order to optimize the schedule. The cost function is considered optimized when a refresh schedule is found that minimizes the cost while using the available bandwidth and no more. The technology can build an optimized schedule to refresh content with incomplete change data, content with complete change data, or a mixture of content with and without complete change data. It can also re-learn content item change rates from its own schedule execution history and re-compute the refresh schedule, ensuring that this schedule takes into account the latest trends in content item updates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Andrey Kolobov, Cheng Lu, Eric J. Horvitz, Yuval Peres
  • Patent number: 11120340
    Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards processing evidence, which may include high-dimensional streaming evidence, into a future belief state. The existing evidence is used to project a belief about a future state. The future belief state may be used to determine whether to wait for additional evidence, or to act now without waiting for additional evidence, e.g., based on a cost of the delay. For example, an autonomous assistant may decide based upon the belief whether to engage a person or not, or to wait for more information before the engagement decision is made.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Dan Bohus, Eric J. Horvitz, Stephanie Rosenthal Pomerantz, Semiha E. Kamar Eden
  • Publication number: 20210119956
    Abstract: A system is described for integrating a search engine and one or more social network resources. The system operates by determining whether a search operation being conducted by a user warrants interaction with a social network resource. If so, the system may provide an invitation to the user to forward a query-related message to the social network resource. The system then sends the message to a group of contacts via the social network resource, where the group of contacts can be defined in various ways. The system receives a response from at least one contact in the group of contacts and presents that response to the user using various delivery mechanisms, as governed by various delivery timings.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2020
    Publication date: April 22, 2021
    Inventors: Meredith J. Morris, Jaime Teevan, Katrina M. Panovich, Aravind Bala, Jonathan Garcia, Susan T. Dumais, Eric J. Horvitz
  • Publication number: 20210012450
    Abstract: Systems and methods to determine when a media is a high-fidelity reproduction of an original media from a trusted entity are disclosed. In certain aspects, systems and method for generating a fragile watermark are disclosed. The fragile watermark may be inserted into digital media in a manner such that the watermark cannot be identified if the media content is significantly altered. Media content may be subsequently analyzed to determine the presence of a fragile watermark. When the fragile watermark is present, provenance of the media content can be verified and an indication of provenance is provided to the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 18, 2020
    Publication date: January 14, 2021
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Henrique S. MALVAR, Paul ENGLAND, Eric J. HORVITZ
  • Publication number: 20200372084
    Abstract: The technology described herein builds an optimal refresh schedule by minimizing a cost function constrained by an available refresh bandwidth. The cost function receives an importance score for a content item and a change rate for the content item as input in order to optimize the schedule. The cost function is considered optimized when a refresh schedule is found that minimizes the cost while using the available bandwidth and no more. The technology can build an optimized schedule to refresh content with incomplete change data, content with complete change data, or a mixture of content with and without complete change data. It can also re-learn content item change rates from its own schedule execution history and re-compute the refresh schedule, ensuring that this schedule takes into account the latest trends in content item updates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2019
    Publication date: November 26, 2020
    Inventors: Andrey KOLOBOV, Cheng LU, Eric J. HORVITZ, Yuval PERES
  • Patent number: 10746561
    Abstract: The claimed subject matter provides systems and/or methods that facilitate inferring probability distributions over the destinations and/or routes of a user, from observations about context and partial trajectories of a trip. Destinations of a trip are based on at least one of a prior and a likelihood based at least in part on the received input data. The destination estimator component can use one or more of a personal destinations prior, time of day and day of week, a ground cover prior, driving efficiency associated with candidate locations, and a trip time likelihood to probabilistically predict the destination. In addition, data gathered from a population about the likelihood of visiting previously unvisited locations and the spatial configuration of such locations may be used to enhance the predictions of destinations and routes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: John C. Krumm, Eric J. Horvitz
  • Publication number: 20200184327
    Abstract: This document relates to automated generation of machine learning models, such as neural networks. One example system includes a hardware processing unit and a storage resource. The storage resource can store computer-readable instructions cause the hardware processing unit to perform an iterative model-growing process that involves modifying parent models to obtain child models. The iterative model-growing process can also include selecting candidate layers to include in the child models based at least on weights learned in an initialization process of the candidate layers. The system can also output a final model selected from the child models.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2018
    Publication date: June 11, 2020
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Debadeepta DEY, Hanzhang HU, Richard A. CARUANA, John C. LANGFORD, Eric J. HORVITZ