Satya Nadella wants us to stop calling AI "slop" - good luck with that

• Nadella asks society to stop worrying about AI slop, and to focus on where it can be truly useful
• Sceptics have called Microsoft's aggressive strategy 'Microslop'
• So far, AI is yet to truly transform the world

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's recent blog post has sparked backlash online, ultimately amplifying the very debate he wanted to move past.

In his post reflecting on AI in 2025 and setting out expectations for 2026, Nadella argued that society should move beyond discussions of 'AI slop' and novelty, and actually focus on where AI can have real-world impact.

He described 2026 as a pivotal year for AI, though he did acknowledge that we're still in the early stages of AI despite rapid progress.

Nadella wants us to focus on where AI really matters

Redmond has already been criticized for its pretty aggressive approach to rolling out AI – many users feel that the tech has been forced upon them, whether they like it or not.

However, use cases aren't just limited to workplace applications. Much of AI's mainstream usage today has been associated with misinformation, low-quality content, memes and even abuse. On the flip side, AI is yet to deliver promised breakthroughs like curing diseases or drastically transforming productivity, despite disrupting many entry-level jobs and straining memory supply (making computers more expensive for consumers).

Nadella called for AI deployment to evolve from standalone models to comprehensive systems that combine models, agents, memory and more.

"It will be a messy process of discovery, like all technology and product development always is," he admitted.

Nevertheless, the term 'Microslop' has been trending on social media as a satirical response to the CEO's comments and to Microsoft's AI strategy on the whole – forced AI adoption and poor quality results tie in with the idea of AI slop.

One comment on Nadella's LinkedIn post criticizes the short blog post for being "polished, but... empty."

All in all, as with any technology or new invention, AI will continue to have mixed use cases that are both transformative and destructive, so it's on companies, regulators and society to manage this and work out exactly where AI belongs.

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