Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella slammed one of the software giant’s own executives for outlining a plan to “make people addicted” to a new AI tool called “Scout.”
The rebuke from Nadella, which was posted on an internal message board, included a link to a report by tech news outlet 404 Media, which obtained a copy of a memo written by Microsoft corporate vice president Omar Shahine.
In the memo, Shahine – who is leading the team responsible for building “Scout” – outlined a three-phase plan to transform the tool from “from addictive app to agentic platform.”
The first phase of the plan was to “make people addicted” by adding features that make “people depend on it daily.”
“This is absolutely a non goal! If anything we are doing the exact opposite. We want to make sure AI empowers and adds real value to human endeavor and broad economic growth! We should make our teams clear about this,” Nadella wrote in the message, which was sent to about 50 of Microsoft’s top software engineers, according to The Information.
“Not sure what this document is or who is writing and leaking this nonsense! They may want to go work elsewhere,” Nadella added.
The Post reached out to Microsoft for further comment.
Microsoft unveiled plans for “Scout” at its “Build” conference in San Francisco earlier this week. The company also published a blog post, which listed Shanine as the author and described Scout as “your always-on personal agent.”
“Microsoft Scout reduces the coordination work that builds throughout the day,” the blog post said. “It can proactively schedule and coordinate meeting times across time zones, flag important meetings, and generate the materials you need to prepare while keeping you in the loop.”
The tool is a key part of Microsoft’s overall strategy as it looks to implement AI across its widely-used productivity software.
Nadella’s remarks surfaced during a particularly sensitive time for tech companies, which are spending billions to roll out advanced chatbots and AI models despite mounting scrutiny from regulators, who have expressed alarm about their potential harm and addictive features.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, which is competing against Microsoft and others in the AI race, recently lost a pair of high-profile lawsuits centered on social media addiction and online harm.
One anonymous Microsoft employee told 404 Media that the leaked document was “very troubling.”
“We’re seeing more and more addiction happening with AI chatbots and agents and overall addiction to me is something no product should be making a part of its build strategy,” the employee said. “It feels like one of those ‘saying the quiet part out loud’ moments in the document.”