That things are not very good lately in the tech industry is a reality (depending on which side you are on, of course). The economics around the heightened demand for AI data centers have become so devirtualized that it is no longer surprising that a big tech company has spent tens of billions of dollars on another big deal. And as a consequence of this, the shortage of components is making the purchase of technological products by the consumer increasingly more complicated.
So yes, you could say that things are not very there. But there’s also some comedy in Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella coming out to point this very thing out. And the company precisely contributes greatly to the situation we are experiencing. In an interview for the Wall Street Journal, Nadella warns that the current AI development model is neither sustainable nor legitimate in the eyes of society.
What is this about? Nadella has long warned that AI has to generate real impact to justify the resources it consumes. He already did so last January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he warned that if AI tokens do not improve tangible results in health, education or productivity, “social permission” to continue allocating energy and money to their development would be lost.
Recently, in a similar speech, he has dared to point out those who, according to him, are concentrating too much power.
Concentration. For Nadella, a small group of companies (those that build the most advanced models, such as OpenAI, Anthropic or Google) are accumulating the value generated by AI while, at the same time, stirring up fear. And the conversation in recent years has revolved around topics such as the massive loss of jobs, the existential risks regarding its use and how these companies require almost unlimited resources to continue growing.
“You can’t say that all white collar jobs are going to disappear, that this could be a weapon, and at the same time use all the power available to build data centers,” the executive told the WSJ. Society is not going to tolerate a few models and a few companies “doing all the learning in the world,” he continued. “Narrative is not enough because now we have to demonstrate with facts,” he insisted to the medium.
Who he points to without naming. Nadella does not mention specific companies in the interview, but the context says it all. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic (and Microsoft partner with a multi-million dollar deal signed last year) predicted in 2025 that AI could eliminate half of entry-level jobs by 2029. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (another long-standing Microsoft partner, in which the company has invested billions) has also made similar warnings about employment, although he recently acknowledged being wrong in his predictions. Both companies have had tensions with the United States Government over the safety of their models.
What Microsoft is doing. Nadella also points out in the interview that Microsoft has launched a series of low-cost models to make access to AI cheaper for its enterprise customers, and has presented Copilot Cowork, an autonomous AI agent that allows the user to choose between different models (including the cheapest ones) depending on the task.
The WSJ also points out in its article that the company is considering whether to host a version of DeepSeek on its platform, a company that not long ago turned the technology industry upside down with its R1 model (it is also a company accused by OpenAI and Anthropic of having copied their models).
The vision it proposes. For Nadella, the future of AI lies in a more distributed model, that is, companies using their own data, with access to a variety of models at different prices, without depending on a handful of suppliers. He defines the companies of the future as “continuous learning systems” that combine human knowledge and AI.
In Nadella’s vision, a company’s capital would not only be its assets, but also its ability to process and learn, something he calls “token capital.” And he warns that protecting intellectual property will be key so that companies do not become mere executors of what the big models dictate.
Between the lines. Nadella’s position also has a strategic reading. And Microsoft has not managed to develop its own model that competes with the most advanced ones from OpenAI, Anthropic or Google. In addition, as shared by the WSJ, its Copilot users have begun to prefer alternatives, according to data from the analysis firm Recon Analytics. Without its own header model, it is in its best interest for the market to move towards variety and price competition, and not towards consolidation around the most powerful models (which are, precisely, those of its partners).
Cover image | Microsoft and M Rezaie
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