Microsoft CEO Nadella warned in a CNN podcast that companies relying on a single AI model may "outsource" their knowledge and thinking capabilities to the model provider, potentially losing their ability to survive independently. He agreed with host Fareed Zakaria's view that every use of AI contributes data, thoughts, and vision to the vendor, "they are actually stealing results to improve their own models."

"Token capital" must remain within the company

Nadella differentiated between consumer and enterprise markets: consumers can trade "free services for data," but the knowledge created by enterprises should stay internal, otherwise it will threaten their survival. Enterprises, in addition to "human capital," also accumulate growing "token capital" — knowledge accumulated when using AI, including prompt context, human-machine interaction records, and usage methods.

He frankly said that any model may stop working, and companies must control their own fate and direction; if they bet on a single model, they surrender control over their operational logic, equivalent to outsourcing the entire company. For Microsoft, this statement also aligns with its platform strategy of aggregating multiple models — enterprise AI autonomy and avoiding vendor lock-in have become new talking points for major players competing for B-end customers.