Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft’s newly formed AI division, is pushing back against the tech industry’s intensifying obsession with Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), characterising the “race” to reach it as a flawed and potentially harmful narrative.
In a series of recent public appearances, including a notable discussion on the Moonshots with Peter Diamandis podcast, the DeepMind co-founder argued that the term “AGI race” creates a false impression of a winner-take-all finish line that doesn’t exist in science or technology.
‘No medals for one, two, and three’, says Suleyman
Suleyman’s remarks appear to be a direct counter-message to the theory often promoted by competitors like OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, who have framed AGI as the ultimate technological trophy.
“I think there’s no winning of AGI. I think this is a misframing that a lot of people have kind of imposed on the field,” Suleyman said. “A race implies that it’s zero-sum… it implies that there’s medals for one, two, and three, but not five, six, and seven. And it’s just not quite the right metaphor.”
Suleyman highlighted that knowledge and technological progress are not contained by a single “finish line” but rather proliferate across the globe simultaneously. He argued that the industry’s fixation on a specific date for AGI—a term that remains loosely defined—is driving “frothy” valuations and unnecessary hype.
Prioritising ‘Humanist’ superintelligence
Under Suleyman’s leadership, Microsoft AI is pivoting away from chasing “supremacy” in favour of what he calls “humanist superintelligence.” This approach focuses on building systems that act as supportive, non-autonomous partners to humans rather than independent entities.
Suleyman also set a firm red line regarding safety, stating that Microsoft is prepared to halt the development of any AI system that shows signs of becoming uncontrollable. “We won’t continue to develop a system that has the potential to run away from us,” he warned, calling the creation of uncontrollable autonomous agents an “anti-goal.”
While dismissing the idea of a “race,” Suleyman did not downplay the staggering resources required to remain at the cutting edge. He estimated that staying competitive at the frontier of AI will cost “hundreds of billions of dollars” over the next five to ten years.
These costs—covering specialised hardware, vast energy requirements for data centres, and the skyrocketing salaries of top-tier researchers—give established giants like Microsoft a significant structural advantage. Suleyman compared Microsoft to a “modern construction company,” with thousands of employees dedicated to building the massive computing infrastructure required to power the next generation of AI. In December 2025, the company made Microsoft 365 Copilot Business generally available, targeting small and medium-sized businesses with fewer than 300 users at $21 per user per month. This affordable AI suite automates routine tasks like email summarisation, document drafting, and data analysis, while introducing new agent capabilities for autonomous workflows.
