Microsoft's Nadella: AI is the 'next platform wave' for business success
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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Chief Executive Satya Nadella wasted little time Tuesday in laying out the software titan's new philosophy behind its push into artificial intelligence technology.
Speaking on a conference call to discuss Microsoft's (MSFT) fiscal second-quarter results, Nadella said the company's emphasis on AI is based in large part on a "changing [business] environment" that is resulting from customers that are looking to optimize their own spending on technology "given the [ongoing] economic uncertainty." Nadella said the realities of the market have had an impact on Microsoft's (MSFT) own priorities.
"Maximum [business] value gets created during shifts in the market," Nadella said. "We are well positioned to capture the opportunities in AI used by customers like OpenAI."
Nadella's comments came one day after Microsoft (MSFT) confirmed it has made a "multiyear, multibillion dollar" investment in ChatGPT developer OpenAI. Microsoft (MSFT) didn't disclose the exact amount of its investment, but various reports pegged it at $10B.
Last week, Microsoft (MSFT) said it would begin integrate ChatGPT into its Azure cloud services offerings. On Tuesday, Nadella said Microsoft (MSFT) has already had more than 200 of its customers move to Azure with AI.
As far as expanding the role of AI beyond Azure, Nadella left no doubt about where he seems Microsoft (MSFT) taking the technology.
"We fundamentally believe the next platform wave will be AI," Nadella said. "[With AI] the core of cloud computing fundamentally changes. We fully expect us to incorporate AI into every part of the [Microsoft technology] stack."
Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood gave a look into how Microsoft (MSFT) expects business to pan out in the companies fiscal third quarter. Without giving any exact earnings-per-share or revenue foredcasts, Hood said Microsoft (MSFT) anticipates foreign currency exchange rates to cause a "decrease in revenue by three points."
Last week, Microsoft (MSFT) said it would layoff 10,000 employees worldwide, and take a $1.2B charge related to the job cuts.