Microsoft’s New Copilot: Why the AI Race Is Moving From Models to Products with CEO Satya Nadella

Microsoft’s new Copilot is a bet that the AI race is moving from models to products. Microsoft doesn’t need to own the best model if Copilot can choose among them and keep the customer inside Microsoft. The potential secret weapon is Autopilot, what I’ve been calling “Muse for Business.” It knows your workflows, works across the apps and data your company already uses, and keeps going even when you step away. That sets up the next big enterprise AI fight. OpenAI and Anthropic are racing from models into products. Can they build their own version of this experience? And can they match Microsoft on the less glamorous but essential parts of enterprise AI: permissions, identity, security, auditability and control as agents become more autonomous? In my full conversation with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, we also get into open vs. closed models, Chinese AI, the U.S.–China summit, new AI regulation, data-center spending and what it means to keep humans in control. Chapters 00:00 Microsoft’s new Copilot 02:02 Why not just give us Autopilot? 05:18 Who pays for always-on AI? 08:06 Copilot picks the model 10:27 Chinese models and OpenAI’s lead 12:04 Competing with OpenAI and Anthropic 13:17 U.S.–China AI talks 16:11 Does AI need new rules? 18:05 The data-center backlash 20:40 Is AI being overbuilt? 23:44 Keeping humans in control DB Live daily launches in late October with Yahoo Finance.