Satya Nadella said he changed his mind on AI alignment and that it represented a separate challenge.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Satya Nadella says he changed his mind on AI alignment, or ensuring AI aligns with human values.
Nadella said he previously thought alignment would just happen as AI capabilities improved.
"I no longer believe that," Nadella said on the 20VC podcast.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says he has changed his mind about the idea that alignment would naturally emerge as AI systems became more capable.
On a new episode of the 20VC podcast, host Harry Stebbings asked Nadella what he'd changed his mind about over the past year. The CEO said he had previously assumed that as AI became more capable, alignment — ensuring AI behaves in line with human values and goals — would automatically follow.
Instead, he said, while scaling has played out as he expected and the models' capabilities have continued to improve, alignment remained a challenge.
"I used to always think that alignment would just fall out," Nadella said. "I no longer believe that. I think this alignment thing may be a harder, different problem."
The Microsoft CEO previously warned about the risks of AI and argued for greater external controls in a post on X on October 10. Nadella said companies should treat AI models as insider threats and assume they are "compromised."
"We need to surround non-deterministic models with strong, deterministic system design, human controls, and reliable operating procedures, and establish industry standards where existing ones are insufficient," Nadella wrote.
His belief that AI's increasing capabilities won't automatically ensure human control is in line with warnings of other tech leaders. Both OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have warned about the threats of AI. A letter signed by more than 1,000 AI workers in July warned that AI capabilities could advance faster than people's ability to understand or control the systems.
Microsoft is offering buyouts to about 60,000 employees.
The offers are individualized to each employee based on their level, location, and tenure.
Business Insider reviewed offers to show what employees get when they leave the company.
As Microsoft sends out its buyout offers to more than a quarter of its workforce, specific offers reviewed by Business Insider reveal exactly what employees get if they choose to leave the company.
The offers are individualized for each employee based on their level, location, and tenure. Those reviewed by Business Insider confirm that the US buyouts align with the company's US standard severance offers. A Microsoft spokesperson said about 60,000 employees would be eligible for the buyout.
Microsoft uses a levels system to represent seniority, from entry levels starting at 59 to senior levels at 70, or vice president. The company offered buyouts to employees on select teams in the US, Canada, India, and the UK at level 70.
Offers reviewed by Business Insider show employees at internal levels 64 and below were offered one week of base pay per six months of service, and employees at levels 65 to 67 were offered two weeks of base pay per six months of service.
Buyout offers also include continued regular stock vesting and health insurance. The standard stock-vesting severance offer is six or 12 months for levels 67 and below, based on years of service.
Eligible employees will have until early December to decide whether to take the offer and exit at the end of the year, and there are no plans for another buyout at this time, a Microsoft spokesperson said.
Standard severance is capped at 39 weeks of base pay for levels 67 and below, while the standard severance offer for level 68 includes 12 months of salary.
Earlier this year, Microsoft rolled out a voluntary retirement program for employees. About 7% of Microsoft's US workforce, or about 8,750 people, were eligible at the time. As Business Insider previously reported, Microsoft's voluntary retirement program offer also aligned with the company's standard severance offer, including continued regular stock vesting for six or 12 months, based on years of service.
Earlier this year, another tech giant, Google, offered buyouts to staff in its business unit, Business Insider previously reported.
As more tech companies offer buyouts, some human resources professionals previously told Business Insider that this approach could soften job cuts, and also that when they're made available to workers of all tenures, companies risk losing talent.
O plano abrange trabalhadores nos EUA, Canadá, Índia e Reino Unido. Os funcionários que aceitarem a proposta e saírem da empresa terão direito a condições semelhantes às de uma indemnização.
Num esforço de contenção de custos e adaptação à era da IA, a empresa tecnológica promove um programa de rescisões voluntárias dirigido a mais de 25% do total de trabalhadores.
Microsoft prepara un nuovo programma di incentivi per favorire l’uscita volontaria di circa 60mila lavoratori negli Stati Uniti, in Canada, India e Regno Unito. L’iniziativa arriva mentre il colosso tecnologico aumenta gli investimenti nelle infrastrutture per l’intelligenza artificiale, con una spesa crescente che mette sotto pressione le finanze aziendali.
Il programma riguarda quattro Paesi e segue quello di pensionamento annunciato ad aprile
Microsoft mette sul tavolo incentivi economici per i dipendenti che scelgono di lasciare volontariamente l’azienda. La nuova offerta potrebbe interessare circa 60mila lavoratori tra Stati Uniti, Canada, India e Regno Unito, secondo le informazioni diffuse lunedì 26 ottobre. Il gruppo di Redmond punta così a favorire le uscite su base volontaria attraverso un programma dedicato a una parte del proprio personale. La cifra di 60mila indica la platea potenzialmente interessata, non il numero di dipendenti che hanno già deciso di lasciare Microsoft. L’effettiva adesione dipenderà dalle scelte dei singoli lavoratori.
L’iniziativa segue un primo programma di pensionamento volontario annunciato ad aprile 2026, al quale poteva accedere circa il 7% dei dipendenti statunitensi. Il nuovo piano estende la possibilità di aderire a un’offerta di uscita volontaria anche a lavoratori di altri tre Paesi.
Microsoft, gli investimenti nell’intelligenza artificiale mettono sotto pressione i conti
Il programma arriva mentre Microsoft sta aumentando gli investimenti nei data center, necessari a sostenere la crescente domanda di servizi legati all’intelligenza artificiale. Il gruppo fornisce infrastrutture e servizi cloud ad aziende come OpenAI e Anthropic, oltre ad altri clienti che utilizzano le sue piattaforme per sviluppare e gestire applicazioni basate sull’IA. La crescita degli investimenti nelle infrastrutture tecnologiche sta assorbendo risorse finanziarie e aumentando la pressione sui conti del colosso americano. Microsoft interviene contemporaneamente sull’organizzazione del personale con il nuovo programma di incentivi.
Per il momento non è noto quanti dipendenti accetteranno effettivamente l’offerta. Il piano prevede la possibilità di un’uscita incentivata, senza che questo equivalga all’annuncio di 60mila licenziamenti.
Microsoft is offering buyouts, according to a memo Chief People Officer Amy Coleman sent to employees Monday.
"The Voluntary Exit Offer reflects an important part of how we're evolving our approach to change: creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter," Coleman wrote.
Microsoft's voluntary exit offer is the company's latest attempt to slim its workforce without another round of involuntary cuts. After spending heavily on AI infrastructure and reducing headcount this year, Microsoft is offering remaining employees a chance to leave, testing whether voluntary departures can cut costs.
Eligible employees in the U.S., Canada, India, and the U.K. at level 70, which includes senior leaders at the company, and below, will receive an email later Monday with the terms of the offer. Only some teams are participating, excluding sales organizations, some engineering, and some corporate functions.
Around 60,000 employees — or more than a quarter of the company's workforce — about will be eligible, a spokesperson told Business Insider, and the terms will be similar to Microsoft's standard severance.
The US severance package offered when Microsoft laid off employees earlier this year included a minimum of 60 days of base pay, during which employees will remain on the payroll, and, for most employees, up to a maximum of 39 weeks of base pay, based on seniority and tenure.
Employees at internal levels 64 and below received one week of base pay per six months of service, for example, and employees at levels 65 to 67 will receive two weeks of base pay per six months of service, according to offers reviewed by Business Insider.
Eligible employees will have until early December to decide whether to take the offer and exit at the end of the year, and there are no plans for another buyout at this time, Microsoft's spokesperson said.
The buyout offer follows Microsoft's Voluntary Retirement Program, which offered a retirement buyout to about 9,000 eligible employees based on age and tenure.
About one-third of eligible employees took the buyout, in line with expectations, a person familiar with the turnout told Business Insider in June. That buyout allowed Microsoft to lay off a lower percentage of its workforce compared to last year, the person said at the time.
Read the memo:
Introducing a Voluntary Exit Offer
Today, we're introducing a new Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO) to eligible employees within participating organizations. This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support. It also gives participating orgs another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs.
The Voluntary Exit Offer reflects an important part of how we're evolving our approach to change: creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter. This builds on what we learned earlier this year through the Voluntary Retirement Program.
What employees should know
This offer will be available to eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, United Kingdom and United States at level 70 and below. This is a time-limited, voluntary program that gives those who are eligible the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources. Some organizations are providing the Voluntary Exit Offer, and some are not. Participation varies based on each business's priorities, customer commitments, and workforce needs.
Eligible employees will receive an email with a link to their Voluntary Exit Offer details within the next few hours.
Looking ahead
The Voluntary Exit Offer is new for us. We'll learn from it. At the same time, we'll keep helping people focus on the work that matters most, build new skills, and, where it makes sense, find new opportunities across Microsoft. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for every team or every employee. These are a few of the ways we're trying to meet different business needs while continuing to create opportunities for our own people to grow and contribute.
My promise is to continue to provide clarity, listen and learn, and keep improving.
Thank you for everything you continue to do for our customers, Microsoft, and for one another.
Big Law has plenty of competition for its best lawyers.
Some of the most ambitious lawyers want to work for clients in their legal departments.
New Pirical data shows which law firms have the most alumni working in Big Tech.
Big Law has a hard time keeping its lawyers.
It's not just rival firms dangling basketball-player salaries, extra vacation, and branded merch to lure away top talent.
Big Tech is competing for those lawyers, too.
New data shared with Business Insider reveals which firms send the most lawyers to the biggest names in tech.
Pirical, a legal people-analytics company, tracked lawyers who previously worked at the 200 largest law firms by revenue in the United States and now hold legal roles at seven tech companies: Google, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX. Pirical filtered out summer associates and interns.
Morrison Foerster and Wilson Sonsini tied for the top spot, each with 40 alumni working in legal roles across the seven companies. Both firms regularly represent tech startups and the investors backing them.
Latham & Watkins followed with 33 former lawyers. Kirkland & Ellis, the industry's revenue leader, ranked 11th with 21 former lawyers working at those companies, tied with Paul Hastings and Sidley Austin.
Pirical's analysis may have missed lawyers whose job titles fell outside its search criteria, said Craig Savitzky, its insights and content editor. He said newer companies, particularly Anthropic, are also likely undercounted because their legal teams are growing faster than public profiles are updated.
Big Law-Big Tech pipeline
For attorneys hoping to land a coveted job at a tech giant, a stint at a white-shoe law firm can be a stepping stone. They can trade billable-hour quotas for a seat closer to the business, attractive pay, and just one client to keep happy instead of dozens.
That combination makes these roles "some of the most highly desirable and sought-after positions" for law firm associates, said Casey Sullivan, a recruiter with CMW Legal Search.
There's another draw, Sullivan said. The companies at the forefront of artificial intelligence are wrestling with some of the thorniest legal questions of the day, from intellectual property to regulation.
"That's where the most interesting work is for lawyers," he said.
Not all law firms are equally effective launch pads. Pirical's Savitzky noted that the firms near the top of the list have deep ties to the tech industry, if not the deepest pockets.
Cooley brought in $2.4 billion in revenue last fiscal year, placing it 29th on The American Lawyer's ranking of top law firms by revenue. But it tied fourth on Pirical's list, with 29 alumni working at the seven tech companies, including nine at Nvidia, a longtime client.
Davis Wright Tremaine, which has represented Microsoft in antitrust and employment lawsuits, has 13 alumni working in the software giant's legal department. Fenwick, which advised Wiz and Fitbit on their sales to Google, has 13 lawyers at the search giant.
Business Insider also sliced the data another way, looking at which of the seven tech giants employ the most alumni from the top 25 firms on Pirical's list.
Big Law is effectively a feeder school for Google's legal team. The company employs 322 alumni of the top 25 law firms on Pirical's list, more than any other tech company studied.
That doesn't necessarily mean Google is the most desirable location for lawyers leaving Big Law. Savitzky said the numbers likely reflect the sheer size of Google's legal department and the decades it has had to recruit from top firms.
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