This is pure speculation, but I get the feeling Microsoft’s gonna significantly downsize, if not collapse, by the decade’s end.
This recent move’s gonna kneecap Microsoft’s ability to function as a company, and their heavy investment into AI mean they’ll likely take the brunt of the impact when the bubble bursts.
There’s something I’ve been wondering about: is the management (of not just Microsoft but really any company who’s pivoting to AI this hard, so also Duolingo and Klarna, &c.) really convinced that there’s going to be a foom event soon and the chatbots become capable enough to actually do the work they attribute to them? Or do Nadella and friends know this is all bullshit and just play along until they can’t anymore and leave the sinking ship?
I honestly can’t tell anymore.
From the perspective of the company I work for (not a tech company, but has a pretty large development center) they truly believe that AI will 10x productivity. Not so much the FOOM stuff. Just typical Capitalism.
Standard Business Idiot nonsense. They don’t actually understand the work that their company does, and so are extremely vulnerable to a good salesman who can put together a narrative they do understand that lets them feel like super important big boys doing important business things that are definitely worth the amount they get paid to do them.
My take is that the Silicon Valley overlords are in a bubble, where they believe that.
That’s fine, they had a “make money by stepping over morals” philosophy from the very start.
That philosophy always ends in stepping into dogshit to try to boost stock prices.
Yeah, it’s not sustainable long-term, but they’re not in for it long-term anyway.
This does sounds like doubling down on a bet.
As a matter of fact, someone’s noted Ed Zitron had called this back in September:
What is that title even that doesnt
Microsoft lays off the staff who make the money (which is used) to fund AI that doesn’t (make money).
It’s English, but British, Jim.
Tried saying it in a British accent, it didn’t help.
If you don’t get it, LLMs don’t either, and David’s work here is done.
Thanks David. I really enjoy your tea
Stock markets generally love layoffs, and they appear to love AI at the moment. To be honest, I’m not sure they thought beyond that.
but does the prospect of mass human sacrifice please The Line?
