Citizens Reiterates Microsoft Market Outperform Rating Amid AI Safety Debate
Citizens Investment has reaffirmed its Market Outperform rating and $550.00 price target for Microsoft stock, citing the tech giant's potential undervaluation and strong earnings growth prospects.
The firm maintained this rating despite recent public statements about AI safety concerns, which have been debated by industry experts since September 9th. That day, Jacob Coxon, a former employee of Anthropic and OpenAI, expressed concerns that these companies are racing towards developing self-improving superintelligence, potentially leading to catastrophic consequences.
Evan Hubinger, Alignment Science Lead at Anthropic, responded with similar concerns on the same day, while David Sacks suggested that Anthropic should choose between renouncing Coxon's statements or agreeing with him and freezing AI development. The following day, Dario Amodei published an essay arguing for a slower pace in AI model improvements to allow for alignment work and third-party verification.
Microsoft has recently taken steps towards addressing these concerns by introducing a code of conduct for its future AI models, emphasizing the importance of considering external feedback before releasing updates. Additionally, the company's cloud infrastructure and AI initiatives have shown significant growth, with RBC Capital reiterating an Outperform rating and KeyBanc maintaining an Overweight rating.