Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman on his ‘transfer’ that people are calling a ‘demotion’: Don’t be surprised by my new role, it has been…

Mustafa Suleyman is pushing back on the narrative. When Microsoft reshuffled its AI leadership in mid-March, it didn’t look great for him—a former Snap executive was elevated above him on the Copilot side, and the sprawling consumer AI division he once helmed was handed to someone else. Call it a transfer, call it a demotion—the reads weren’t flattering either way. Suleyman’s answer, in an interview with The Verge, was simple: he saw this coming nine months ago, and it was always the plan. Don’t be surprised, he says.

“This has been a long-held plan,” he said. Pursuing superintelligence, he added, is “purely my focus” now.