Short answers, pulled from the story.
Microsoft Research began developing the first version of its machine translation system in 1999. This early effort relied on semantic predicate-argument structures called logical forms.
Bing Translator launched publicly in 2007. It provided free text and website translations directly through a web interface using Bilingual Viewer tools.
March 2016 marked the introduction of speech translation capabilities. Speech translation fully integrated into Microsoft Speech services in September 2018.
Deep neural networks appeared in nine high-traffic languages including Japanese in November 2016. Neural networks now provide better translation than industry standard statistical machine learning.
Lower translation volumes remain free for all users up to two million characters per month. Paid tiers support billions of characters per month for businesses with heavy usage needs.