Microsoft Gains As Analysts See It Winning Generative AI Race
Microsoft (MSFT:US) has its stock trade about 15% higher this week despite significant market turmoil amid the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB:US).
Most mega-cap tech stocks have seen robust inflows in recent days as investors see them as shelter from the ongoing market volatility. Microsoft shares received an additional boost after OpenAI released its new GPT-4 text generation AI system, seen as a superior AI chatbot to all competitors, including Google’s Bard.
“GPT-4 is more creative and collaborative than ever before. It can generate, edit, and iterate with users on creative and technical writing tasks, such as composing songs, writing screenplays, or learning a user’s writing style,” OpenAI said on its website.
Just 3 days after GPT-4 was introduced, Microsoft came out with 365 Copilot - a combination of generative AI and Microsoft’s 365 toolkits. Copilot “combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with your data in the Microsoft Graph and the Microsoft 365 apps to turn your words into the most powerful productivity tool on the planet,” Microsoft said in the presentation.
This week’s developments prompted analysts to praise Microsoft for its decision to pour billions into OpenAI as it now looks best-positioned to win the generative AI arms race.
“We view GPT-4 as the current industry standard to beat and, while generative AI is in a hype cycle, it is nevertheless quite real… We think GPT-4 sets the new standard for AI that other players like Google and Baidu will need to pace,” Macquarie analysts said in a note.
The latest surge in Microsoft stock price comes after Congress members were mostly selling shares of the Redmond-based tech titan.
Congressman Scott Franklin was selling shares in February while his colleague Michael McCaul sold larger amounts of MSFT stock in January this year at levels nearly 20% below the current market price.
