Tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) is likely concerned about the role it is playing in the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI). But it is making a move on that front, according to a report from Axios. The report noted that Microsoft is getting together with construction unions to better train workers for the AI era. The news was sound enough to shareholders, who sent Microsoft shares up over 1.5% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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While there will be a certain amount of new jobs created as a result of AI, there will likely be many more lost. And Microsoft, the report notes, is trying to bridge the gap by getting together with the North America Building Trades Union (NABTU). The combined effort will offer free AI literacy courses, as well as “industry-recognized credentials” to craftsmen across North America.
This actually builds on some earlier efforts in this vein, reports note, as Microsoft got together with not only the American Federation of Teachers, but also the AFL-CIO to put together similar programs. NABTU president Sean McGarvey noted, “If communities are going to be comfortable having this infrastructure built where they live…having advocates from those communities who have been in those communities for generations and are respected goes a long way.”
It Really Is Just a PC
Meanwhile, one of the biggest rumors about Microsoft’s Xbox Helix seems to be solved, based on a recent insider leak. The Project Helix APU has no customization at all, which makes it a standard but fairly powerful straight-up PC. The exact nature is still unconfirmed, and this is based on an insider leak, but the notion that the next Xbox would handle both console games and PC games seems to be quite intact.
This basically marks Xbox’s departure from the console wars, and offers some noteworthy potential for scaling methods to come. It also lends credence to the notion that Microsoft will have console exclusives again, but that these will be PC / Xbox exclusives rather than merely Xbox exclusives.
Is Microsoft a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MSFT stock based on 35 Buys and two Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 13.97% rally in its share price over the past year, the average MSFT price target of $575.08 per share implies 35.23% upside potential.
