AI isn’t replacing jobs. AI spending is
Microsoft bets on Influencers to close the gap with ChatGPT
AI isn’t replacing jobs. AI spending is
Anthropic’s B2B strategy
Microsoft bets on Influencers to close the gap with ChatGPT
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AI isn’t replacing jobs. AI spending is
For decades now, we have been told that artificial intelligence systems will soon replace human workers. Sixty years ago, for example, Herbert Simon, who received a Nobel Prize in economics and a Turing Award in computing, predicted that “machines will be capable, within 20 years, of doing any work a man can do.”
Are these bleak predictions finally coming true? ChatGPT turns 3 years old this month, and many think large language models will finally deliver on the promise of AI replacing human workers. LLMs can be used to write emails and reports, summarize documents. Other forms of generative AI can create images and videos for advertising or code for software.
Last week, when Amazon slashed 14,000 corporate jobs and hinted that more cuts could be coming, a top executive noted the current generation of AI is “enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before.” Shortly thereafter, another Amazon rep anonymously admitted to NBC News that “AI is not the reason behind the vast majority of reductions.” On an investor call, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy admitted that the layoffs were “not even really AI driven.”
For layoffs in the tech sector, a likely culprit is the financial stress that companies are experiencing because of their huge spending on AI infrastructure. Companies that are spending a lot with no significant increases in revenue can try to sustain profitability by cutting costs. Amazon increased its total CapEx from $54 billion in 2023 to $84 billion in 2024, and an estimated $118 billion in 2025....
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Anthropic’s B2B strategy
The Information reports that Anthropic expects to generate as much as $70 billion in revenue and $17 billion in cash flow in 2028. The growth projections are fueled by rapid adoption of Anthropic’s business products, a person with knowledge of the company’s financials said. Last month, Reuters reported that Anthropic is projected to more than double, and potentially nearly triple, its annual revenue run rate next year. The company is reportedly on track to meet a goal of $9 billion in ARR by the end of 2025 and has set a target of $20 billion to $26 billion ARR for 2026.
Anthropic expects its revenue this year from selling access to its AI models through an API to hit $3.8 billion, doubling the $1.8 billion revenue OpenAI expects to generate from API sales, per The Information. Claude Code is reportedly close to generating $1 billion in annualized revenue, up from about $400 million in July.
In recent weeks, Anthropic’s aggressive B2B strategy has become clearer. Microsoft and Anthropic recently began partnering to use Anthropic’s models in Microsoft 365 apps and Copilot. Anthropic has also expanded its Salesforce partnership and plans to roll out its AI assistant Claude to hundreds of thousands of employees at Deloitte and Cognizant.
When it comes to model improvements, Anthropic has, over the last two months, launched smaller, more cost-effective models — Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Claude Haiku 4.5 — which appeal to businesses deploying AI at scale. The startup has also expanded Claude for Financial Services and introduced Enterprise Search to enable businesses to connect all their internal work apps to Claude.
That said, the company expects its gross profit margin — which measures a company’s profitability after accounting for direct costs associated with producing goods and services — to reach 50% this year and 77% in 2028, up from negative 94% last year, per The Information....
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Microsoft bets on Influencers to close the gap with ChatGPT
Microsoft Corp., eager to boost downloads of its Copilot chatbot, has recruited some of the most popular influencers in America to push a message to young consumers that might be summed up as: Our AI assistant is as cool as ChatGPT.
Microsoft could use the help. The company recently said its family of Copilot assistants attracts 150 million active users each month. But OpenAI’s ChatGPT claims 800 million weekly active users, and Google’s Gemini boasts 650 million a month. Microsoft has an edge with corporate customers, thanks to a long history of selling them software and cloud services. But it has struggled to crack the consumer market — especially people under 30.
Using non-techies as spokespeople is meant to reinforce Microsoft’s campaign to sell its chatbot as a life coach for everyone. Or as Consumer AI chief Mustafa Suleyman wrote in a recent essay, an AI companion that “helps you think, plan and dream.”
Anindya Ghose, a marketing professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, expressed surprised that Microsoft is using lifestyle influencers to market Copilot. But he can see why the company would be attracted to their cult followings. “Even if the perceived credibility of the influencer is not very high but the familiarity with the influencers is high, there are some people who would be willing to bite on that apple,” Ghose said in an interview. He doubted Microsoft would continue with the program if it wasn’t getting traction. “So I’m fairly certain it’s working,” Ghose said….