Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has openly criticized Microsoft and other Big Tech companies for their massive investments in artificial intelligence and data centers. In Salesforce’s latest earnings call, Benioff questioned whether these costly projects are delivering significant returns. “We aren’t building huge $10 million, $20 million, $30 million, $100 billion data centers,” Benioff said.
“We’re not doing some of these kinds of engineering efforts that may or may not have huge payoffs, but which could drain our cash and profit margins for the next several years.”
Salesforce is instead focusing on enhancing its existing products with AI, leveraging the infrastructure investments made by others. This approach is part of Benioff’s vision of the “digital labor revolution.”
Benioff’s comments come as Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are substantially increasing their capital expenditures. Amazon plans to spend over $100 billion this year on expanding Amazon Web Services and scaling AI infrastructure, up from $77 billion in 2024.
Microsoft has allocated $80 billion for AI-related infrastructure this year. Despite Microsoft’s significant investment, Benioff remains skeptical of the company’s AI-powered tools, calling Microsoft a “reseller of OpenAI.” He questioned the extent of Microsoft’s AI integration in their operations. “Where on their side are they delivering agents?
Where in their company have they done this?
Benioff questions massive AI investments
Where are their best practices?” Benioff asked.
This is not the first time Benioff has criticized Microsoft. He previously expressed disappointment with Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot, comparing it to the discontinued animated paperclip assistant, Clippy. Microsoft’s chief communications officer, Frank X.
Shaw, has suggested that Benioff’s criticisms are part of a marketing strategy. Benioff is promoting Salesforce’s own AI offerings, with a clear goal in mind. “Our goal is to be the number one provider of digital labor in the world,” he stated during the earnings call.
Salesforce reported fourth-quarter revenue of $9.99 billion, missing the consensus estimate of $10.04 billion. The company’s shares fell by 5% in extended trading after it projected fiscal 2026 revenue below Wall Street expectations. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Benioff’s statements.
Image Credits: Photo by Johnyvino on Unsplash
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