One signal

Satya Nadella says the AI industry could lose public support if it cannot show the technology is doing something useful. The Microsoft chief made the point at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, linking AI’s energy demands to the need for practical results.

TechRadar revisited his remarks in a piece published on 25 October. Nadella’s argument is a pointed one: data centres need energy to train and run models, and the case for that demand is harder to make if people cannot see a meaningful payoff. That is an executive’s view, not proof that public support is already slipping. But the test he sets is refreshingly concrete: what does all that computing power do for people?

Discuss: Should AI companies have to demonstrate clear public benefits before their growing energy use is accepted, or is that an unreasonable bar for a technology still developing?

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