Microsoft Slips on Report of Lower Demand for Some AI Tools

Microsoft Corp. shares slid after the Information reported that the software maker has lowered expectations for getting business customers to spend money on the cloud unit’s marketplace for artificial intelligence models and agents.

Several divisions at Microsoft have lowered quotas for how much salespeople are supposed to increase sales of certain AI products after many of them missed their targets in the fiscal year that ended in June, the Information reported, citing two salespeople in the Azure cloud division. The unusual shift reflects how Microsoft is compensating for companies’ resistance to pay more for AI, according to the report.