ChatGPT’s generative AI domination since its release in late November has led many in the tech industry to predict Microsoft’s current stranglehold on the technology will continue well into the future – and that Microsoft will inevitably be the leader in the cloud.
GenAI requires supercomputing-like power, the ability to store and tap into monstrous amounts of data, close links to a company’s existing technology infrastructure, and straightforward tools to help users get the most out of it. Those requirements are well beyond the capabilities of all but a few companies, meaning businesses will need to turn to the cloud for them.
That’s behind the assumption Microsoft, with its comprehensive suite of products, cloud prowess and lead in generative AI will emerge on top.
Not so fast, say those who think Amazon will continue to be the cloud’s top dog. They point to the company’s significant lead in cloud market share, and a quiet but fierce focus on genAI tools honed for enterprises.
Microsoft or Amazon — who’s right? Let’s look at the reasons either could end up dominating the cloud and genAI.
Why Microsoft believes genAI will make it the cloud leader
Those who point to Microsoft have a straightforward argument: Microsoft is already the market leader in business apps for enterprises, including Microsoft 365 (formerly Microsoft Office), Teams, Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP — the list can seemingly go on forever.
Every one of those products will ultimately include Microsoft’s genAI tools, which the company brands as “copilots.” According to Microsoft boosters, these tools will make enterprises far more efficient. For example, Microsoft claims, the Microsoft 365 Copilot will allow Excel to autonomously break down your corporate sales according to type and sales channel and create a chart visualizing the data. Word’s copilot could take that data and create marketing materials. And PowerPoint’s copilot could build a presentation based on the Word documents and Excel data, including relevant stock photos.
In Teams, Microsoft says, a copilot could conceivably build a table of pros and cons about a topic being discussed, list all the decisions made in a meeting about it, and suggest follow-up actions.
Performing those tasks requires access to company data, and backend tools to tap into that data for all of Microsoft’s copilots — and that means the cloud. Microsoft has a suite of AI cloud tools called Azure AI that allow companies to use their own data for AI and build their own machine-learning tools. Many companies, including the NBA, CarMax, H&R Block, and others, are already doing it.
Even though we’re still in the very early days of genAI-cloud marriage, Microsoft’s cloud revenue is already seeing growth. The company, in its most recent earnings report last month, reported cloud revenue, driven by cloud-native AI workloads, hit $110 billion for the fiscal year; that’s an increase of…
2023-08-30 00:00:04
Article from www.computerworld.com