THE FRONT-RUNNER MCCRACKEN P.51

MICROSOFT'S CEO HAS STEERED ΤΗΕ COMPANY TO POLE ΡΟSΙΤΙΟΝ ΙΝ ΤΗΕ AI RACE. HERE'S HOW HE INTENDS TO HOLD ON TO A LEAD THAT IS ΑΝΥΤΗΙΝ G BUT CERTAIN.

- HARRY

A QUARTER OF A MILLION PEOPLE have gathered to hear Satya Nadella talk about AI.

It's just after 9 a.m. on a Tuesday in May, and Microsoft's CEO is kicking off the company's annual Build developer conference. Attendees have packed a gleaming new high-rise building at the Seattle Convention Center for his keynote, but they're far outnumbered by those streaming it from around the world. The turnout is no surprise. For months, generative AI software that can create text, images, and other content with human like flair has been devouring the tech industry's attention. And, unexpectedly, Microsoft is in the lead.

In fact, Nadella has presided over so many generative AI product unveilings this year that he takes a moment on stage to acknowledge their frenetic pace. "It's not like I came in on January 1 and said, 'Let's start doing press releases," he jokes, wearing a hoodie and high-tops and looking very much like a developer himself. "But it does feel like that."

Microsoft has been at the forefront of the tech world's AI race because of the landmark partnership Nadella struck with ChatGPT creator OpenAI, which-in return for a reported $13 billion investment gives the software giant first dibs at the startup's current and upcoming technologies. As the results have begun showing up in new and upcoming versions of Microsoft products, from GitHub to Bing to Excel to Azure, they've greatly boosted the company's standing in relation to peers such as Amazon and Google. For the first time since its 1990s heyday, the company is widely regarded as the pacemaker in technology's next historic wave of change.

"The fact that Microsoft even has a leadership position is super important," says analyst Patrick Moor-head of Moor Insights & Strategy. "If you'd asked me two years ago, 'Give me 1, 2, and 3 [in AI], I might have put Microsoft at No. 3-or 4."