Microsoft Shares $500m In Ai Savings Internally Days After Cutting 9,000 Jobs

Microsoft’s main commercialized serviceman Judson Althoff said during a position this week that AI devices are boosting productivity crossed sales, customer service, and package engineering, Bloomberg reports. Althoff noted AI has been truthful useful that Microsoft was capable to prevention much than $500 cardinal past twelvemonth successful its telephone halfway alone. 

The soul remarks travel a week aft Microsoft laid disconnected much than 9,000 workers, nan company’s 3rd information of layoffs this twelvemonth that put nan full number of affected labor location astir 15,000. 

For labor who mislaid their jobs while moving astatine a institution that is reporting awesome cost-savings and signaling 1 of its astir profitable quarters yet, Althoff’s remarks mightiness travel disconnected arsenic reside deaf. 

The business had already been analyzable by a now-deleted LinkedIn post from Xbox Game Studios’ shaper Matt Turnbull, who past week suggested that workers emotion “overwhelmed” by Microsoft’s layoffs – which included occupation cuts crossed Xbox – mightiness find support done AI devices for illustration ChatGPT and Copilot to thief negociate nan cognitive load that comes pinch occupation loss.

It’s not clear whether nan thousands of workers who mislaid their jobs this twelvemonth were replaced by AI aliases whether nan layoffs correspond post-pandemic right-sizing. What is clear is that workforce adjustments during a play of grounds profitability creates a challenging move that, for some, has to sting.

Microsoft closed retired nan first 4th pinch $26 cardinal successful profit and $70 cardinal successful revenue. The company’s marketplace capitalization has besides surged successful caller months to astir $3.74 trillion, displacing Apple and trailing only Nvidia.

Microsoft has signaled that overmuch of that profit will travel straight into AI. The institution said successful January it would put $80 cardinal into AI infrastructure crossed 2025. While Microsoft continues to prosecute talent, too, nan institution appears positioned to much actively participate successful nan industry-wide title of ‘Who Can Pay Top AI Researchers The Most?’ In short, it’s much apt we’ll spot Microsoft walk millions of dollars connected apical AI researchers alternatively than mediate managers and different employees.