Satya Nadella highlights ‘phenomenal’ use of AI in Baramati, Elon Musk reacts

Satya Nadella's Microsoft is at the forefront of AI technology, thanks to its partnership with OpenAI. Despite early concerns about AI since ChatGPT's launch in 2022, the technology is maturing, and we are seeing more productive use cases. One such case highlighted by Satya Nadella is the use of AI to increase the yield of a small farm in Baramati, Maharashtra.

Sharing a video on X where he talked about the positive impact of AI, Satya Nadella said, “The one example that I wanted to highlight was one of the small farmers who was part of the Baramati Co-op, where you can take this powerful technology but make it have an impact, where a small landowner is able to improve the yield of their land. And the numbers they shared in terms of reduction in chemicals, improvement in water usage and, ultimately, yield was phenomenal.”

He added, “One of the things it does is sensor fusion. We've been talking about it for decades. This is using geospatial data, spatial temporal data from drones, from satellites, from soil, all getting connected in real time and then to apply AI to it, and then translate it back into knowledge for a farmer who is just asking questions in their vernacular language. That's the stitching together, it's pretty phenomenal to see.”

Reacting to the video, xAI founder Elon Musk wrote, “AI will improve everything [sic]”

Rocky relationship between Satya Nadella and Elon Musk

Notably, Musk has warmed up to Nadella in recent weeks after months of criticising his company for essentially controlling OpenAI through its investment—a claim that the Microsoft CEO vehemently denied.

Things came to a head last year when Musk, who co-founded OpenAI, also named Microsoft in the lawsuit against the ChatGPT maker, claiming that the two companies were working to monopolise the generative AI market.

"Microsoft’s anticompetitive practices have escalated," Musk's attorney Marc Toberoff had said in a statement then.

Recently, Musk questioned OpenAI's ability to pay for its commitment to the $500 billion Stargate project, stating that the AI startup did not actually have the money it promised. 

Nadella reacted to Musk's statement in an interview, saying, “Look, all I know is, I’m good for my $80 billion (the amount which Microsoft has committed to AI development this year).”

Musk had reacted to the Nadella interview on X, writing, “On the other hand, Satya definitely does have the money.”