Microsoft invests significantly in Open AI tools for artificial intelligence
Microsoft recently decided to greatly expand its position in the market for artificial intelligence (AI) tools from a strategic point of view. The next step is to transform all software solutions based on this innovative technology. With an investment of $1 billion in 2019 and 2021, Microsoft was already one of the early investors in OpenAI – the innovative company behind chatbot ChatGPT, image generator Dall-E2 and other controversial AI solutions. Last month, Microsoft invested another $10 billion in OpenAI. And now holds 49 percent of this company. This decision promises all existing and future Microsoft customers excellent prospects for significant improvements to their software solutions.
There is a serious skills shortage in today’s market. Due to the enormous demographic ageing in Western countries, this problem will become even more acute in the coming years. This is where AI comes into play. AI tools have the potential to make software solutions much smarter than they are today. This will make it possible to increase employee productivity spectacularly.
According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, “labour productivity can get a boost from the use of AI. And that is necessary to put the economy back on a growth path. Knowledge workers in particular will benefit from these new tools.” He drew a comparison with software developers who use these tools as a programming aid.
“I haven’t seen anything like this since 2007-2008 when the cloud came along,” Nadella commented. ChatGPT has been getting most of the attention lately for AI. This tool automatically generates text based on written prompts in a way that is much more advanced and creative than previous chatbots. The web-based tool became a no-brainer after its initial launch in November 2022. IT executives and venture capitalists raved about it on Twitter, even comparing it to the debut of Apple’s iPhone in 2007. “We are now transforming the largest software category on planet Earth: search”,
Nadella said when talking about the integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft’s own search engine Bing and web browser Microsoft Edge. This is a direct challenge to Google, which currently dominates the search market. Other Microsoft solutions will follow soon, including the Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM solutions:
“It will be incredibly interesting to see how this technology will reshape pretty much every software category. Microsoft will be at the leading edge of this!”
If you are not yet a Microsoft customer today, the important question is how your current software provider will position itself in relation to this coming AI wave. Because one thing seems very clear: Artificial intelligence has the potential to be a real game-changer for the entire business world as we know it today!
