Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has weighed in on the revenue projections from leading artificial intelligence (AI) labs, including OpenAI‘s prediction of reaching $100 billion in revenue by 2027 and Anthropic’s forecast of $70 billion in revenue by 2028. Nadella stated that such high projections are necessary for these independent labs to attract the capital needed to compete with the big players. When asked about the forecasts Nadella acknowledged the aggressive growth rates being pitched.“What do you expect from an independent lab that is sort of trying to raise money to do? They have to put some numbers out there such that they can actually go raise money so that they can pay their bills for compute,” Nadella responded to a question about how and why these labs are projecting revenue that keeps growing at this rate of like 3x, 2x years in the marketplace.
Satya Nadella Steps Back to Focus on AI: Microsoft’s Major Reorganisation Explained
“Someone’s going to take some risk and traction. It’s not like it’s all risk. Without seeing the fact that they’ve been performing, whether it’s OpenAI, whether it’s Anthropic, I feel great about what they’ve done, and we have a massive book of business with these jobs,” he added.
Funding the future of AI
Nadella framed the massive revenue goals as a practical necessity driven by the enormous costs of advancing AI technology, particularly the steep price of high-end compute and top-tier talent. While expressing strong support for the work being done – citing Microsoft’s “massive book of business” with these labs – Nadella underscored the core requirements for any company to be an AI leader.“Overall, ultimately, there’s two simple things: One is you have to allocate for R&D. The talent for AI is at a premium, you got to spend there. You have to spend on compute – that is sort of what it takes to be a leading R&D company in this world,” Nadella noted.Nadella concluded that these labs “have been performing,” pointing to the traction seen by both OpenAI and Anthropic, suggesting the risks being taken are justified by their performance.“And you have to have a balance sheet that allows you to scale that long before. It’s conventional wisdom and so on,” Nadella said.