While AI-driven efficiencies boost Microsoft’s bottom line and trim jobs, the company doubles down on AI education with major investments and a pledge to train 20 million people globally.
Days after laying off 9,000 workers, Satya Nadella-led Microsoft says it is saving $500 million through AI efficiency. According to a Bloomberg report, Microsoft’s Chief Commercial Officer Judson Althoff, during his recent presentation, said that AI-powered tools helped the company save a huge amount of money, primarily in its call center operations.
“The savings,” Althoff stated, “came alongside improved customer satisfaction and internal efficiency,” according to the Bloomberg report.
It’s still unclear whether Microsoft’s recent wave of layoffs, impacting thousands, was a direct result of AI replacing roles or simply part of a broader post-pandemic restructuring.
Microsoft’s software engineering team is also leaning heavily on AI, which now powers about 35% of the company’s coding for new products. To ramp up productivity and weave AI deeper into its product development cycle, the company has laid off nearly 4% of its workforce.
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All this came at a time when Microsoft wrapped up its first quarter with a massive $26 billion in profit on $70 billion in revenue. Meanwhile, its market value has been soaring, recently hitting around $3.74 trillion.
Earlier this year, Microsoft gave a hint of investing much of its profit into AI. Now the company has announced that it plans to give more than $4 billion in cash and technology services for AI training. “Microsoft will serve as an advocate to ensure that students in every school across the country have access to AI education,” Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft, said in an interview Sunday.
Microsoft is also rolling out a new initiative called the Elevate Academy. This is a training program aimed at making AI education more accessible. It would help 20 million people build skills and earn certifications in AI, on a large scale.
This broke out as the American Federation of Teachers announced it was setting up a national AI training center for educators, with $23 million in funding from Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic.
Just last week, major tech players such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI — signed a White House pledge to support AI education in schools by offering funding, technology, and training resources.
Back in 2023, Amazon also launched a new initiative called “AI Ready,” aiming to offer free online AI skills courses to 2 million people.
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So, now the world is keen on making investments in AI education and accessible to people while human workforce could be obsolete due to AI predictions are surfacing online. This showcases a laying ground for the AI and the human force to coexist for the advancement of a new era.