"Microsoft CEO and head AI peddler Satya Nadella wants you to know that it's time for the next phase of AI acceptance, where we focus on how humans are empowered by tools and agents and how we deploy resources to support this growth. Amid doubts that revenue from Microsoft Copilot subscriptions and cloud AI services will compensate for data center capital expenditures any time soon, Satya has some incentive to convince customers and investors that AI is a financially intelligent long-term bet."
"He also offers a new variant on the filler phrase "it's early days," so often heard from tech execs deflecting inquiries about lack of results. "We are still in the opening miles of a marathon," he opined. "Much remains unpredictable." Getting down to business, the Microsoft CEO says that there are three things the tech industry and society need to "get right" in 2026 to make AI return real value for everyone."
Microsoft frames AI as entering a new phase focused on human empowerment through tools and agents and on deploying resources to sustain growth. Financial skepticism exists because Copilot subscription and cloud AI revenue may not yet offset data center capital expenditures, creating pressure to present AI as a sound long-term investment. Pew Research reports 62 percent of US adults interact with AI several times a week, yet the share of paying Copilot customers remains uncertain. Messaging emphasizes that adoption is still early, and sets three priorities for 2026, including a "theory of mind" that treats AI as a human-amplifying tool and designing products around that belief, invoking computers as "bicycles for the mind."
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