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   Microsoft CEO urges AI developers to get to a point where we are using this    
   to do something useful, or lose even the social permission...to generate    
   these tokens   
      
   Date:   
   Thu, 22 Jan 2026 04:00:00 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Satya Nadella used his Davos platform to warn that AIs future hinges on   
   proving real-world utility.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is concerned that if artificial intelligence   
   doesnt start delivering real, measurable benefits to society, people will be   
   fed up with it and its price, ending its current form of existence. The Davos   
   stage is an odd venue and audience to preach societal good over other goods,   
   but it certainly helped his comments stand out.    
      
   AI developers "have to get to a point where we are using this to do something   
   useful that changes the outcomes of people and communities and countries and   
   industries. Otherwise, I don't think this makes much sense," Nadella    
   explained during a conversation with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.    
      
   "We will quickly lose even the social permission to take something like   
   energy, which is a scarce resource, and use it to generate these tokens, if   
   these tokens are not improving health outcomes, education outcomes, public   
   sector efficiency, private sector competitiveness, across all sectors, small   
   and large."    
      
   The Davos crowd, used to a more digital transformation cheerleading role,   
   sounded a little confused. But the discussion also shows how the AI hype    
   train is both an illusion and real. Nadella should know what he's talking   
   about. Microsoft is one of the biggest drivers of the current AI boom, with   
   tens of billions of dollars invested in OpenAI, its own Copilot suite baked   
   into productivity tools, and a seat at nearly every major AI policy table.    
      
   But his message at Davos was that leadership now demands a reckoning  not    
   just about how smart or useful AI tools are in theory, but whether theyre   
   helping people in schools, clinics, small businesses, and city governments.    
      
   Thats not an abstract moral argument. Its an infrastructure one. AIs growth   
   has been driven by immense computational muscle, which means its also driven   
   by massive energy use. Training today's biggest models consumes as much   
   electricity as some small countries consume in a year.    
      
   And inference, when you run the model on your phone or desktop to answer a   
   question or generate a response, adds to that cost every second it runs. AI   
   doesnt just use servers; it fuels an ever-expanding footprint of data    
   centers, water-cooled systems, and grid-straining workloads.    
      
   Nadellas social permission phrase gets to the heart of what might be next.   
   Until now, the public has broadly accepted that cloud-based tech companies    
   can use resources in exchange for productivity, entertainment, or    
   convenience. But that goodwill isnt guaranteed. If AI begins to look like a   
   wasteful luxury, delivering novelty rather than necessity, citizens and   
   governments may start to push back.   
      
   Value for AI energy    
      
   During the session, Larry Fink asked whether all this productivity talk would   
   mean fewer jobs, and Nadella didnt dismiss the concern. But he argued that    
   AIs potential lies in amplifying what people can do.    
      
   But this moment is different from past tech inflection points. The sheer    
   scale of AI's appetite. Cloud computing scaled gradually. Smartphones had   
   physical limits. But AI can grow as fast as the models and capital behind it   
   allow. Thats why Nadellas call to focus on outcomes comes off as cautious as   
   well as pragmatic.    
      
   Nadellas message was simple but sharp: we are nearing the edge of public   
   tolerance for black-box systems powered by opaque amounts of energy, with   
   unclear societal benefits.    
      
   And maybe we should all be asking harder questions when the next shiny AI    
   tool drops: Does this help me? Does it help someone? Or is it just burning   
   energy to generate yet another token?    
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/microsoft-ceo-urges-ai-devel   
   opers-to-get-to-a-point-where-we-are-using-this-to-do-something-useful-or-lose   
   -even-the-social-permission-to-generate-these-tokens   
      
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