Microsoft is forming a new team to research superintelligence and other advanced artificial intelligence.
Mustafa Suleiman, head of Microsoft’s AI division that oversees Bing and Copilot, announced the creation of the MAI Superintelligence Team in a blog post. He said he would lead the group and that Microsoft would invest “significant amounts of money” into the effort.
“We do this to solve real, concrete problems, and we do it in a way that keeps us grounded and controllable,” Suleiman wrote. “We are not building some ill-defined, ethereal superintelligence. We are building practical technology clearly designed to serve humanity.”
Building a “humanist” approach to superintelligence
The move comes as major technology companies compete for top AI researchers. Facebook’s parent company, Meta, recently formed its own Meta Superintelligence Labs, spending billions of dollars on hiring experts and even offering up to $100 million in signing bonuses. Suleiman would not comment on whether Microsoft intended to take up such an offer, but said the new team would include both internal talent and new hires, with Karen Simonian serving as lead researcher.
Before joining Microsoft, Suleiman co-founded DeepMind, which was acquired by Google in 2014. He then led AI startup Inflection, which was acquired last year along with several Microsoft employees.
The employment push reflects broader trends. Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022, companies have been racing to bring generative AI into their products. Microsoft uses OpenAI’s models in Bing and Copilot, but OpenAI relies on Microsoft’s Azure cloud to power its tools. Microsoft also owns $135 billion in OpenAI stock after its recent reorganization.
Reduce dependence on OpenAI
Despite the partnership, Microsoft has worked to diversify its AI sources to lay the foundation for future superintelligence research. After acquiring Inflection, the company began experimenting with models from Google and Anthropic, another AI startup founded by former OpenAI executives.
A new Microsoft AI research group aims to build useful AI companions to help people in education and other fields. Suleiman said the team will also focus on projects in healthcare and renewable energy.
A different path than your rivals
Suleiman said that unlike some of its peers, Microsoft is not trying to build an “infinitely capable generalist” AI. He doubts that such a system can be brought under control, and instead wants to develop what he calls a “humanist superintelligence,” an AI that responds to human needs and benefits the real world.
“Humanism requires us to always ask the question: Does this technology serve the interests of humanity?” he said.
While the risks of AI are widely discussed, from bias to existential threats, Suleiman said his team’s goal is to create expert systems that achieve “superhuman performance” without posing significant risks. He cited examples such as AI that can improve battery storage or design new molecules, as well as DeepMind’s AlphaFold project that predicts the structure of proteins.
The arrival of medical superintelligence
Suleiman said Microsoft is particularly focused on healthcare and predicts that AI capable of expert-level diagnostics could emerge within the next two to three years.
He described it as a technology that can reason through complex medical problems and detect preventable diseases earlier. “We can deliver expert-level performance across all diagnostics, as well as advanced planning and prediction in the clinical setting,” he wrote.
As investors question whether large investments in AI will be profitable, Suleiman stressed that Microsoft has set clear limits. “We are not going to build superintelligence indefinitely at all costs,” he said.
(Photo courtesy of Praswin Prakashan)
SEE ALSO: Microsoft offers free Copilot AI services to U.S. government employees
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