Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says he's 'optimistic' about the future of AI

In a conversation with Klaus Schwab, chairperson of the World Economic Forum, Nadella discussed where he believes the AI industry is headed and the safety guardrails needed in place.

He also highlighted some of Microsoft’s most recent developments in the space.

“As a digital technology industry, the biggest lesson learned perhaps for us is that we have to take the unintended consequences of any new technology along with all the benefits,” Nadella said. “[We have to] think about them simultaneously as opposed to waiting for the unintended consequences to show up and then address them.”

He said this is a fundamental change seen the industry over the last 10 years.

“I feel like our license to operate as an industry depends on that because I don’t think the world will put up any more with any of us coming up with something that has not thought through safety, trust, equity,” he said. “These are big issues for everyone in the world.”

He argued he feels the industry is thinking about the future in a smart way.

“I’m very optimistic because of the dialogue that’s happening,” he said. “People in our own industry are stepping it up to say, okay, here are the ways we are going to raise the standards on safety.”

Earlier in the day, Microsoft announced a $20 subscription plan for anyone using its Office 365 products, including PowerPoint, Excel and Word. It was previously only available to companies.

“I think ‘24 will probably be the year where all of this will scale,” he added.

This story is developing …

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