Here’s how Google CEO Sundar Pichai (left), Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and six other business leaders are leveraging AI. Christoph Soeder/Getty Images; Josh Ederson/Getty; Mohd Rasfan/Getty
As the field grows, business leaders are using AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Some have tried AI for work, while others have tried it to write rap or translate poetry.
Hear how nine executives from companies like Meta, Google, and Microsoft are implementing this technology.
Since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2023, everyone has been talking about and trying out hot new technologies in their personal and professional lives.
They include some of the world’s most influential business leaders.
In addition to OpenAI, many companies are capitalizing on the hype and releasing generative AI products with human-like capabilities. Users are turning to technology to save time and achieve their goals.
Some employees use ChatGPT to create lesson plans, create marketing materials, and write legal briefs. Some people rely on chatbots to help them lose weight, do homework, and plan vacations. Some people claimed to have made money with AI.
And interest has trickled down to the C-suite, where leaders are equally eager to put technology to work for them. From translating poetry to creating rap songs, he shares how executives at Meta, Google, Microsoft, and other major companies are personally using his AI.
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said he uses Perplexity AI “almost every day.”
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images
The CEO of a chip company that makes coveted GPUs to power AI models told Wired in February that he uses AI-powered question-and-answer search engines in his research.
In an interview, he gave an example of how Perplexity can be used to learn about recent advances in computer-aided drug discovery.
“We want to frame the overall topic to create a framework,” Huang told Wired. “From that framework, you can ask more specific questions.”
“I really like these large language models,” he said.
The CEO said they also use OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
AMD CEO Lisa Su said the company uses Microsoft’s Copilot for “meeting summaries” and “action tracking.”
AMD CEO Lisa Su. AMD
Still, Hsu doesn’t think Microsoft’s AI assistant is perfect.
“I don’t write emails very well. That’s not what I use them for,” the CEO of Nvidia competitor AMD said in his March 2024 SXSW keynote.
Microsoft has integrated Copilot into its suite of office products, including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said his favorite use of ChatGPT is to explain German philosophy and Persian poetry.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Stephen Brashear/Getty Images
Nadella said ChatGPT helps him understand the complex writings of philosophers like Martin Heidegger.
“I remember my father struggling to read Heidegger in his 40s, and I tried thousands of times and failed,” the CEO said on a June 2023 episode of Freakonomics Radio. “But I have to say that the best way to read Heidegger is to ask a ChatGPT or Bing chat to summarize Heidegger.”
He was also impressed by the AI chatbot’s ability to translate poetry. He said his favorite thing to do is ask ChatGPT to translate his Rumi from Urdu to English.
“The most interesting thing about this work is that it captures the depth of poetry,” Nadella said on the podcast. “Somehow, within that potential space, it finds meaning beyond just words and translation. What I found there is just amazing.”
Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla said he used ChatGPT to write a rap for his daughter’s wedding.
Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla was an early supporter of OpenAI. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
“I wrote what I wanted to say to her as a speech, entered it into ChatGPT, said, ‘Write rap lyrics,’ and entered it into the music AI,” the OpenAI investor previously posted on X . Twitter, October 2023.
“So I could blast my personal rap songs through the speakers,” Khosla added. “It expanded my abilities. It meant a lot to me.”
He is the founder of Khosla Ventures, a VC firm that invests in startups in areas such as AI, clean technology, and biomedicine.
OpenAI CEO and co-founder Sam Altman said his company uses chatbots for translation and writing.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Andrew Caballero Reynolds/Getty Images
In August 2023, Altman told Bloomberg that ChatGPT was a “lifesaver” for translation purposes during a world tour discussing the future of AI. He visited Israel, Jordan, Qatar, UAE, India, South Korea and other countries for three months.
The man behind ChatGPT said his work helps you “write faster” and “think more.”
“I see a path forward where this person becomes my super-assistant for all my cognitive tasks,” he told Bloomberg.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said he used language models to converse with his son and Pluto.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Christoph Soeder/Photography partnership via Getty Images
In an episode of The New York Times’ technology podcast “Hard Fork,” Pichai challenged LaMDA, one of the search giant’s early conversational AI models, to visit the planet Pluto to test its capabilities. He said he asked him to pretend to be.
In one conversation, LaMDA told Pichai and his son that Pluto was “really lonely” because it was so far away in space.
“I got sad at that point as we were talking,” the CEO said on a March 2023 episode of the podcast.
He also asked LaMDA what to do for his father’s 80th birthday. In response, the model suggested making a scrapbook.
“It’s not very deep, but it’s telling and it kind of captures your imagination,” he told the NYT, explaining the prompt.
In December 2023, Google announced Gemini, its latest language model that can generate text and photos using prompts.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said he used ChatGPT to translate Frank Sinatra’s song “My Way” into Spanish.
Warren Buffet, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. Scott Morgan/Reuters
Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman seemed satisfied with the results.
“Two seconds later, it comes out” and “rhymes and does all these great things,” Buffet told CNBC about the song in April 2023.
The billionaire said he sees ChatGPT’s potential to save time, but is skeptical about whether it can have a positive impact on society.
“I think this is unusual, but I don’t know if it’s beneficial,” he told CNBC.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said he uses ChatGPT in his personal life.
Apple CEO Tim Cook Photo Alliance/Getty Images
Cook declined to say how the AI chatbot will be used. But he said he tried it and saw the potential.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said in a June 2023 interview with CNBC. “I think there are some unique applications for this, and it’s definitely something we’re looking at carefully.”
Apple appears to be lagging behind other big tech companies in AI. The iPhone maker plans to discuss AI projects at a developer conference in June.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has developed a personal AI assistant called “Jarvis” to manage different parts of the home.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images
Back in 2016, JarvisIt controlled the lighting, appliances, temperature, music and security system in Zuckerberg’s home, Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post. The CEO also said the AI assistant can interact with phones and computers and learn new words and concepts.
In July 2023, Meta made available Llama-2, a large-scale language model comparable to OpenAI’s GPT, to some users. Since then, the company has released his AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses and an AI chatbot featuring celebrities. Its most advanced model, his Llama-3, is still under development.
On February 28, Axel Springer, the parent company of Business Insider, joined 31 other media groups in filing a $2.3 billion lawsuit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses caused by the company’s advertising practices. I woke you up.