Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Image: MARK KAUZLARICH/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he believes the impact of artificial intelligence will be just as profound as the internet. In 1995, in a memo, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates called the internet a “tidal wave” that would be crucial to every part of the company’s business.
“The Bill memo in 1995, it does feel like that to me,” Nadella said on the Bloomberg podcast, The Circuit With Emily Chang. “I think it’s as big.”
The software giant is one of the tech giant companies that invested in artificial intelligence. Microsoft invested US$13 billion in OpneAI, a start-up whose generative AI technology has created so much buzz.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on The Circuit, “We have a great relationship. These big, major partnerships between tech companies usually don’t work. This is an example of it working really well. We’re super grateful for it.”
The alliance has received a backlash from the co-founder of OpenAI Elon Musk. Musk claimed that OpenAI is now “effectively controlled by Microsoft.”
Altman who co-founded OpenAI with Musk said, “Company is not for sale. I don’t know how to be more clear than that,” after Musk’s critiques.
In AI, Altman said OpenAI’s position is far from assured. “This is not only a competitive environment, but I think this is probably the most competitive environment in tech right now,” he said.
According to Bloomberg LP, a Microsoft spokesman said the company welcomes a discussion with governments about ensuring competition in AI continues. In the interview, Nadella cautioned that the true impact of AI remains to be seen.
“We in the tech industry are classic experts at overhyping everything,” the Microsoft CEO said. “What motivates me is I want to use this technology to truly do what I think at least all of us are in tech for, which is democratising access to it.”
Source: Bloomberg LP, and Tech Central
