Microsoft curbs selling of emotion guessing software, limits facial recognition tech
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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) said on Tuesday that it would stop selling technology that guesses their emotion based on a facial image and would limit the access to facial technology software, citing privacy concerns. 
In a blog post, the tech giant said the changes came after talking with internal and external contributors, taking action after Microsoft (MSFT) said last year it would review the software.
"In the case of emotion classification specifically, these efforts raised important questions about privacy, the lack of consensus on a definition of 'emotions,' and the inability to generalize the linkage between facial expression and emotional state across use cases, regions, and demographics," Sarah Bird, principal group product manager at Microsoft's (MSFT) Azure AI unit, said in the post.
It's unclear how much revenue Microsoft (MSFT) generated from selling the software, but the company's Azure cloud computing unit saw 46% year-over-year growth in its most recent, helping Microsoft's (MSFT) Intelligent Cloud segment generate $19.1B in quarterly sales.
Microsoft (MSFT) shares rose more than 2.5% to $253.94 in late-day trading on Tuesday.
Existing customers have until June 20, 2023 to discontinue use of the emotional recognition tools until they are retired, Bird added in the post. 
In addition, Microsoft (MSFT) explained that new customers now need to get approval for facial recognition software, while existing customers "have one year to apply and receive approval for continued access to the facial recognition services based on their provided use cases."
Investment firm Wedbush Securities reiterated that Microsoft (MSFT) was one of its top picks in the tech sector, noting its exposure to cloud computing.