Bill Gates would restart Microsoft as an AI-centric lab after 50 years — "Raising billions of dollars from a few sketch ideas"

Gates lays out his theoretical plans to take on OpenAI and Google, as Microsoft turns 50.

If time travel were a reality in this era of AI, Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates would have gone back a few years to restart the software giant as an AI-centric firm. Microsoft is arguably one of the most successful companies ever, and it briefly became the world's most valuable company ahead of Apple and NVIDIA due to its cloud and, obviously, AI efforts.

Fifty years into its successful software development business, Gates seemingly shared his intrusive thoughts, suggesting that he would start Microsoft all over again as an AI firm to take on OpenAI and Google.

Last year, the philanthropic billionaire shared the idea while speaking to CNBC:

"Today, somebody could raise billions of dollars for a new AI company [that’s just] a few sketch ideas."

However, he admitted that the venture would require a huge amount of cash to hit the ground running and have the potential to catch up with OpenAI's uncontested 2-year lead developing ChatGPT.

Interestingly, the Microsoft co-founder indicated that he'd strive to identify a unique niche in the AI landscape to meet a specific need, unlike the ever-emerging startups that are seemingly hell-bent on chasing AGI (Artificial General Intelligence).

While AI shows great promise, Gates admits that it would be virtually impossible to scale Microsoft's success. However, he claims AI presents a transformative opportunity for emerging AI startups to explore the landscape and identify their niche.