Catenaa, Wednesday, December 03, 2025- Multiple divisions at Microsoft have lowered sales growth targets for certain AI products after many sales staff missed goals in the fiscal year that ended in June.
The Information reported on Wednesday, that it is rare for Microsoft to lower quotas for specific products, citing two salespeople in the Azure cloud unit.
Shares of the company, which is one of the biggest winners of the generative AI boom thanks to its early bet on ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, fell more than 2.7% on Wednesday. The stock has gained about 13% this year.
Lower sales growth goals for Microsoft’s AI products are likely to fan fears about real-world adoption of AI as an MIT study from earlier this year had found that only about 5% of AI projects advance beyond the pilot stage.
US tech giants are under investor pressure to prove that their hefty investments in AI infrastructure are generating returns.
Microsoft reported a record capital expenditure of nearly $35 billion for its fiscal first quarter in October and warned that spending would rise this year.
Overall, US tech giants are expected to spend around $400 billion on AI this year.
Microsoft had previously positioned 2025 as a breakthrough year for AI capabilities that could automate complex tasks, such as generating dashboards from company sales data.
However, the report suggests the adoption timeline may be longer than initially anticipated.
The companies have said the outlay is necessary to overcome supply constraints that have hobbled their ability to capitalize on AI demand.
Microsoft has predicted that it would remain short on AI capacity at least until the end of its current fiscal year in June 2026.
