The headline makes good bait for AI skeptics. But this is a team of 50 people with a grandiose name.
The more interesting idea is that MS has abandoned AI research entirely, presumably because their zillions invested in other companies are a better bet in that area.
Curse of money strikes again. $4tn market cap company thinks team of 50 researchers too expensive.
If MS abandoned a promising idea, pursuing it outside makes perfect sense. I am sure there are investors willing to fund this. This could even be an opening to attack the moat of the current AI frontier model companies.