Salesforce paid $20 million for Einstein backing of its AI strategy – The Seattle Times
Almost 900 people were gathered in a San Francisco conference hall wearing matching white lab coats, wigs and mustaches. Guinness World Records dubbed it the largest ever “Gathering of People Dressed as Albert Einstein” and bestowed an award upon Salesforce, which had convened the March assembly.
The long-dead scientist has found another life as a mascot of the software company’s artificial intelligence features. And it wasn’t cheap: Salesforce paid more than $20 million to license Einstein’s image in a deal struck nearly a decade ago, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the agreement was private.
It’s tough to stand out as a tech company working on artificial intelligence. Salesforce has leaned on a cuddly rendition of the famous physicist to convey that its AI products are forward-thinking and safe. It has also tried to cast doubt on the safety of large language models from companies like OpenAI, arguing the need for a middleman. “Everyone’s an Einstein with Salesforce” is the tagline of a recent commercial in Salesforce’s relentless lineup of ads, which show customers being turned into the scientist once they use AI features.
Proceeds from Einstein’s image go to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which the scientist helped establish and left his intellectual property to upon his death. The university is very cautious about how Einstein’s image is used, said Paul Morizet, who previously managed licensing deals for the estates of dead celebrities including Einstein and Marilyn Monroe. Pitches such as putting Einstein’s face on napkins or milk jugs were rejected, Morizet noted. “They don’t need small deals that diminish the brand.”
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Nearly a decade ago, marketers at Salesforce were directed to come up with a brand identity for disjointed AI features, such as a tool to predict which sales prospects might actually buy something. “Boring” names like Compass or Salesforce AI were initially aired, said Colin Fleming, a marketing executive at Salesforce who has a stuffed Einstein doll in his home office.
When Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff first floated Einstein, the marketers recoiled, according to people familiar with the development. It sounded too close to Watson, IBM’s AI tool, which had failed to make a splash beyond winning on the game show “Jeopardy!” Staff members even presented a consumer research study that favored picking a different name. Still, Benioff pushed forward, buying the domain “Einstein.com” and working to license the likeness.
The Hebrew University loved Salesforce’s pitch, Fleming said. The agreement locked in Salesforce as the only business-oriented software company allowed to use Einstein’s likeness for two decades, according to a person familiar with the deal. Fleming said Salesforce hasn’t meaningfully tweaked the contract since it was initially struck. A spokesperson for the university said it “is privileged to have been entrusted by Albert Einstein to protect his valuable intellectual property upon his death.”
Every major software company has released generative AI features over the last year, with product names suggesting strategy. Microsoft uses Copilot to describe the consultative role of its new tools in day-to-day work. Amazon‘s “Bedrock” solution for deploying AI models underlines its goal to own the infrastructure layer. Google renamed its AI chatbot Gemini, from Bard, perhaps because an archaic poet isn’t the most reliable fact-finder. IBM even brought back its Watson branding on a platform meant to allow companies to safely use and train AI models.
Salesforce has released a slew of Einstein-branded AI features in its customer-management applications, allowing speedily generated content like pitch emails, service responses or e-commerce product descriptions. Benioff has even questionably said that Einstein will “soon reach” artificial general intelligence, a hotly contested term meaning AI as intelligent as a human.
What’s different about Salesforce’s AI positioning is its pitch that the new technology is dangerous and needs to be managed. Benioff has ranted that large language models, which underpin generative AI, steal business data and “lie” when they misstate facts, implicitly underscoring the need for an intermediary. Salesforce said its “Einstein Trust Layer” filters large language models from companies like OpenAI or Anthropic to prevent them from either ingesting proprietary data or spitting out toxic text that could turn off customers.
In one frequently aired Salesforce TV commercial, Matthew McConaughey — a creative adviser to Salesforce who has been paid more than $10 million a year, the Wall Street Journal has reported — is dressed as a cowboy and calls AI the Wild West. McConaughey also provides the voice-over narration in the Einstein-themed commercials.
“There’s a lot of education that needs to happen because not everyone understands how these large language models are trained and why there are downsides,” said Clara Shih, who leads Salesforce’s AI efforts. While the company hasn’t disclosed how much revenue is being produced by the AI tools, Shih pointed to “indirect” sales from its AI capabilities.
That safety-focused talking point is aided by a trusted face like Einstein. “He’s just an amazing human being — one of the most quoted individuals in the world,” Fleming said. “It’s been one of the best brand decisions we’ve ever made as a company.”
This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
The long-dead scientist has found another life as a mascot of the software company’s artificial intelligence features. And it wasn’t cheap: Salesforce paid more than $20 million to license Einstein’s image in a deal struck nearly a decade ago, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the agreement was private.
It’s tough to stand out as a tech company working on artificial intelligence. Salesforce has leaned on a cuddly rendition of the famous physicist to convey that its AI products are forward-thinking and safe. It has also tried to cast doubt on the safety of large language models from companies like OpenAI, arguing the need for a middleman. “Everyone’s an Einstein with Salesforce” is the tagline of a recent commercial in Salesforce’s relentless lineup of ads, which show customers being turned into the scientist once they use AI features.
Proceeds from Einstein’s image go to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which the scientist helped establish and left his intellectual property to upon his death. The university is very cautious about how Einstein’s image is used, said Paul Morizet, who previously managed licensing deals for the estates of dead celebrities including Einstein and Marilyn Monroe. Pitches such as putting Einstein’s face on napkins or milk jugs were rejected, Morizet noted. “They don’t need small deals that diminish the brand.”
More
Nearly a decade ago, marketers at Salesforce were directed to come up with a brand identity for disjointed AI features, such as a tool to predict which sales prospects might actually buy something. “Boring” names like Compass or Salesforce AI were initially aired, said Colin Fleming, a marketing executive at Salesforce who has a stuffed Einstein doll in his home office.
When Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff first floated Einstein, the marketers recoiled, according to people familiar with the development. It sounded too close to Watson, IBM’s AI tool, which had failed to make a splash beyond winning on the game show “Jeopardy!” Staff members even presented a consumer research study that favored picking a different name. Still, Benioff pushed forward, buying the domain “Einstein.com” and working to license the likeness.
The Hebrew University loved Salesforce’s pitch, Fleming said. The agreement locked in Salesforce as the only business-oriented software company allowed to use Einstein’s likeness for two decades, according to a person familiar with the deal. Fleming said Salesforce hasn’t meaningfully tweaked the contract since it was initially struck. A spokesperson for the university said it “is privileged to have been entrusted by Albert Einstein to protect his valuable intellectual property upon his death.”
Every major software company has released generative AI features over the last year, with product names suggesting strategy. Microsoft uses Copilot to describe the consultative role of its new tools in day-to-day work. Amazon‘s “Bedrock” solution for deploying AI models underlines its goal to own the infrastructure layer. Google renamed its AI chatbot Gemini, from Bard, perhaps because an archaic poet isn’t the most reliable fact-finder. IBM even brought back its Watson branding on a platform meant to allow companies to safely use and train AI models.
Salesforce has released a slew of Einstein-branded AI features in its customer-management applications, allowing speedily generated content like pitch emails, service responses or e-commerce product descriptions. Benioff has even questionably said that Einstein will “soon reach” artificial general intelligence, a hotly contested term meaning AI as intelligent as a human.
What’s different about Salesforce’s AI positioning is its pitch that the new technology is dangerous and needs to be managed. Benioff has ranted that large language models, which underpin generative AI, steal business data and “lie” when they misstate facts, implicitly underscoring the need for an intermediary. Salesforce said its “Einstein Trust Layer” filters large language models from companies like OpenAI or Anthropic to prevent them from either ingesting proprietary data or spitting out toxic text that could turn off customers.
In one frequently aired Salesforce TV commercial, Matthew McConaughey — a creative adviser to Salesforce who has been paid more than $10 million a year, the Wall Street Journal has reported — is dressed as a cowboy and calls AI the Wild West. McConaughey also provides the voice-over narration in the Einstein-themed commercials.
“There’s a lot of education that needs to happen because not everyone understands how these large language models are trained and why there are downsides,” said Clara Shih, who leads Salesforce’s AI efforts. While the company hasn’t disclosed how much revenue is being produced by the AI tools, Shih pointed to “indirect” sales from its AI capabilities.
That safety-focused talking point is aided by a trusted face like Einstein. “He’s just an amazing human being — one of the most quoted individuals in the world,” Fleming said. “It’s been one of the best brand decisions we’ve ever made as a company.”
This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
