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Microsoft says that it ’s creating a Modern unit , the Advanced Planning Unit ( APU ) , within its Microsoft AI concern division that will help the society translate the social , health , and work implications of AI the company hop to build .
Microsoft AI , which comprehend Microsoft ’s Copilot , Bing , and Edge product , is becoming core to Microsoft ’s maturation strategy — much to the chagrin of some shareholders . This week , the society reported that its capex for Q4 2024 top $ 22.6 billion , a new record high , which CEO Satya Nadella say was necessary to meet demand for Microsoft ’s AI and cloud offerings .
“ As AI becomes more efficient and approachable , we ’ll see exponentially more need , ” Nadella said during the company ’s Q4 profit group discussion call on Tuesday .
The APU will operate out of the office of Microsoft AI ’s chief executive officer , Mustafa Suleyman , and combine “ cutting - border research ” to “ research and articulate ” a cooking stove of possible scenarios for the time to come of AI , accordingtojobpostings . The APU will also be charged with defecate product recommendation — and suggesting planning outcomes based on them — as well as producing a rolling political program of events , publications , and other study to “ help further our discernment . ”
Some members of the APU will be responsible for draught Jockey shorts that get send out out to Microsoft product managers , devs , and executive team , while others will serve with conference organization and blueprint comms documents , per the postings . All will work across Microsoft AI ’s offices in Silicon Valley and London .
In aseries of post on X , Suleyman said that the APU is looking to engage economists , psychologists , “ and beyond , ” as well as those with backgrounds in come out orbit such as quantum , nuclear , and silicon .
“ We ’re front for [ people ] to fascinate this hyper - evolutionary space and get us have it away what ’s happening and why it matters , ” Suleyman said . “ These roles are incredible , rarefied opportunities to dig deeply and consider imaginatively about AI , working from a advantage stop at the cutting border of AI science and production growth . ”
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How will AI exchange patterns of work , life , connection , instauration and play ? What will manoeuvre it in the right direction ?
— Mustafa Suleyman ( @mustafasuleyman)January 31 , 2025
The formation of the APU comes shortly after Microsoft create a Modern intimate dev - focussed AI organization send for CoreAI — Platform and Tools . A combining of the company ’s subsist Developer Division and AI platform teams , CoreAI effectively rejiggered Microsoft ’s developer divisions to ensure AI remain a top precedency .
In a memoranda publish on Microsoft’sblogin former January , Nadella tell that Microsoft ’s focus for the coming year will be “ [ AI ] mannikin - forward ” app that “ remold all applications programme category . ”
“ As we begin the Modern year , it ’s clear that we ’re move into the next frame of this AI platform fracture , ” Nadella continued . “ Thirty years of modification is being compressed into three years ! ”
It ’s not just Microsoft that ’s reorganizing and hire to examine AI impacts and guide the technical school ’s development . OpenAI , Microsoft ’s airless collaborator and partner , brought on its first chief economistlast October to direct research into how AI might influence economic growth and job prospect .
According to a recent studyby the Brookings Institute , subsist reproductive AI could interrupt at least half the tasks that more than 30 % of all workers perform on a regular basis .
“ Despite the high stakes for workers , we are not prepared for the potential risks and opportunities that generative AI is poise to bring , ” the study ’s cobalt - authors wrote .
