July 9 (Reuters) - Microsoft MSFT.O saved more than $500 million in its call centers alone last year by using artificial intelligence, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

The tech giant last week announced plans to lay off nearly 4% of its workforce as it looks to rein in costs amid hefty investments in AI infrastructure. In May, the company had announced layoffs affecting around 6,000 workers.

AI tools were helping improve productivity in segments from sales and customer service to software engineering and the company has begun using AI to handle interactions with smaller customers, Microsoft's Chief Commercial Officer Judson Althoff said during a presentation this week, according to the Bloomberg News report.

The nascent effort was already generating tens of millions of dollars, the report said, citing a person familiar with his comments.

AI generated 35% of the code for new products, accelerating launch times, Althoff said, according to the report.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The Windows maker has earmarked $80 billion in capital spending this fiscal year, with most of it aimed at expanding data centers to ease capacity bottlenecks for artificial-intelligence services.

Big tech companies have been spending heavily on AI as they view the new technology as a major growth engine, while slashing costs elsewhere to safeguard profits.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City)

((Juby.Babu@thomsonreuters.com;))