Software giant Microsoft Corporation is apologising for altering a photo on its website to change the race of one of the people shown in the picture.

A photo on the Seattle-based company's US website shows two men, one Asian and one black, and a white woman seated at a conference room table. But on the website of Microsoft's Polish business unit, the black man's head has been replaced with that of a white man. The color of his hand remains unchanged.

Spot the difference ... (top) the advertisement in the US, and (bottom) the altered advertisement in Poland.

The photo editing sparked criticism online. Some bloggers said Poland's ethnic homogeneity may have played a role in changing the photo.

"We are looking into the details of this situation," Microsoft spokesperson Lou Gellos said in a statement Tuesday. "We apologise and are in the process of pulling down the image."

AP