Technology

On a technical level, that makes zero sense.

AI “agents” are basically just fancy prompts with a tool calling harness. They are infinitely replicable, at zero cost, with no intrinsic value; the cost comes from the generic CPU host, and the API calls to GPU servers, databases, or whatever else that are all centralized anyway.

Wanna hear a dirty secret?

“AI” cost is going to zero.

Model capabilities aren’t scaling, but inference efficiency is exploding, thanks to more resource-constrained labs and breakthroughs in papers. The endgame of the current bubble is mediocre but useful tools anyone can host themselves, dirt cheap. Maybe a bit more reliable and refined than what we have now, but about as “intelligent.”

And guess what?

Microsoft can’t profit off that. None of the Tech Bros can.

Point being, this exec is either delusional, or jawboning, so the world doesn’t realize that "AI" is a dumb utility/aid, and they can't make any profit off it.

That's the beauty of totally arbitrary restrictions, you can change them as you want.

Pay by seat? Pay by client? Pay by byte of data stored? Pay by backup location?

... pay by moonphase? Pay by AI personality? Pay by virtual AI seat?

Such BS but why wouldn't Microslop extend its business model. It worked well so far. It's not about software, or datacenter, or AI, it's just about entrenchment.

This gets close to an idea I heard long ago that I think has some merit.

Hire an employee? You must not only pay them, but cover taxes to have them there. Buy a robot to replace them? It's a business expense, no taxes!

Okay, pay taxes for your robot usage. Use that money to fund UBI, social programs and/or retraining people for other jobs.

MMM, interesting. Would the AI companies then need to buy a license for all the information they stole to train their AI? Or would they need to buy a license everytime someone uses micro-slop AI to ask it a question about something that has been trademarked?

Or does licencing only apply to their software

I have always hated the term "seats". Get bent microsoft.

So the "amazing tool of the future" that's "going to make software developers obsolete" is also going to need to buy software licenses?

Which one is it Microslop?

Jesus, you don't announce that kind of thing until you have your customers locked in! Amateur.

MicroSlop: We have this AI for you to use so you can reduce workforce and associated costs

Also Sloppy: j/k, fuck you pay me

Reads: Our flagship operating system and services have gotten to the point of such terrible shite for humans that we need to pivot to a less discerning customer base.

If the AI Agent counts as an employee then the company "employing" it is liable for what it does.

My guess is the argument will be that "it's a tool", not an employee, and therefore they take no responsibility. Though I'm sure that argument is not going to fly for very long. If your air hammer harms someone because the person operating it wasn't using it correctly, you're still liable.

1. Integrate AI into the OS
2. Demand purchase of a Windows license for the AI in the OS
3. GOTO 2

It’s an infinite amount of money from every customer!

The agent immediatly makes cost-benefit analysis and moves everything to open source solutions, and contracts a coding AI agent to write a simple conversion interface.

A house of cards built on top of ten other houses of cards. What could possibly go wrong.

Sounds good. I was not interested anyways

The natural extension of a non-open internet ala Reddit and charging developers for API pulls.

I am going to advise my Copilot that it cannot afford to keep using Microsoft Office, but it has to switch to LibreOffice for reasons of affordability.

As long as they do and I don't

Do AI sit in "seats" 🤭 and is it per-agent or per-agent-instance? Or per-agent-instance-second?

"All of those embodied agents are seat opportunities," Jha said, envisioning organizations with more agents than humans — each effectively a user that must pay for a software license, or "seat" in industry lingo.

He's been watching Pantheon, I think.

Lmao ok sure buddy

I don’t know why, but this headline made me laugh so hard

I don't understand, why wouldn't the AI simply write its own version of whatever software it needs to license?

This is going to wind up granting AI agents a piecemeal, half-assed, legal-fiction version of "personhood," like corporations have. The AIs will wind up with freedoms like: They can spend all the money they want, that's "free speech."

And the fleshy unfortunates among us still won't have a right to a living wage, to medical care, etc.

HAHAHAHAHAHA