Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently won the 2023 Axel Springer Award and conducted an in-depth interview with the company's CEO Mathias Dopfner at Axel Springer's German headquarters.
When asked where he thinks Microsoft's greatest potential lies, Nadella responded: "To me, our greatest opportunity is artificial intelligence. Just like cloud computing has transformed all software categories, we think artificial intelligence is such a transformational shift. Whether it's search or our Office software. I create documents and spreadsheets." Or the way information is consumed is fundamentally changing. So the concept of co-pilots that we introduce will be revolutionary in terms of driving productivity and communication. The same goes for software development. The fact that human work, whether it's front-line work or knowledge work, will be the biggest transformation."
Dupfner asked: "Elon Musk has said he may be more afraid of artificial intelligence than nuclear weapons. Do you agree?"
Nadella's answer was, "The problem is, it's very easy to start thinking that self-improving, self-replicating software is something that you have absolutely no control over. At least, that's an area where you start to have some scary thoughts. My own sense is that, ultimately, we have a lot of ways to go about this where the control is built in. Look at cars. You can." Say cars can be like gods. They can be everywhere, run over people, and cause accidents. However, we have a lot of regulations and safety standards that have killed people in car accidents, so I hope we can do the same with artificial intelligence and not just treat it as an existential risk."
Dupfner also asked why Microsoft's $65 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard was so important to Microsoft.
Nadella responded: "Yeah, but we're really excited about it. For us, there are things that go back to our history as a company. Gaming is one of them, right? When I think of Microsoft, I think of probably developer tools, proprietary software and games. Those are the three things we've been doing since the beginning. So, for us, gaming is an area where we think we can make a real contribution in the consumer market. If I If you look closely, people are spending more time playing games, and Gen Z will be spending more time playing games. The way games are made and distributed is fundamentally changing. Whether it is mobile, console, PC, and even the cloud. So, we are looking forward to our dual role as a game producer and publisher. We will also be a company that develops platforms for games. ”