The rally seen in the crypto market earlier this week hit a setback on Wednesday. Tech giant Microsoft unexpectedly drew attention with reports of disappointing AI sales, an impact immediately reflected in the prices of both stocks and cryptocurrencies.
According to an extensive report from The Information, several Microsoft departments have lowered their sales quotas for AI software. Bitcoin’s price briefly fell back towards €79,000, after previously hovering around €80,500.
Microsoft Lowers Expectations #
According to the tech platform The Information, Microsoft has had to adjust internal growth targets for new AI products. Some departments reportedly failed to meet their 2025 objectives, leading to reduced quotas for certain AI tools. Microsoft initially denied that quotas were lowered but later admitted that growth targets had indeed been adjusted.
According to sales staff within the Azure cloud division, a core part of Microsoft’s AI strategy, it is unusual for quotas for specific products to be lowered. This fueled concerns that the adoption of new AI tools is progressing more slowly than hoped.
This news was particularly noteworthy because OpenAI also put a brake on its revenue expectations for AI agents for the next five years earlier this year. Investors now fear that the extreme growth pace in the AI sector is not being met everywhere.
That fear was immediately visible on the stock market. Microsoft (MSFT) fell almost three percent, and the Nasdaq 100 turned from a small profit to a loss.
Doubts About AI Projects Are Increasing #
Investors are increasingly questioning whether the enormous investments in artificial intelligence are yielding sufficient returns. A MIT study previously concluded that only five percent of all AI projects make it past the test phase.
An example mentioned by The Information is investment giant Carlyle Group (CG). The company tested Microsoft’s Copilot Studio to automate tasks. Some time later, however, it reduced its spending because the software struggled to pull consistent data from other applications. According to analysts, this shows that AI technology is still in an early adoption stage.
Crypto Moves in Tandem #
In recent weeks, cryptocurrency prices have moved strongly in line with major tech companies, especially when it comes to bad news. In September, Microsoft had just invested €15 billion in AI, which gave a huge boost to large bitcoin miners. Whereas profits used to depend mainly on the price of bitcoin, companies are now seeking alternative revenue streams, and AI is one of them.
It is therefore remarkable that, despite the bad news, the damage to crypto miners remained limited. Iren (IREN) fell about two percent, while Cipher Mining (CIFR) and Core Scientific (CORZ) ended up around one percent lower. TeraWulf (WULF) remained virtually stable.