Wedoany.com Report on Feb 6th, Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings report clearly demonstrates the company's strong growth momentum and continued expansion of capital investment driven by its artificial intelligence strategy.
According to the latest disclosed data, Alphabet's fourth-quarter profit reached $34.5 billion, a 30% increase compared to the same period last year; revenue rose by 18% to $113.8 billion. Its core digital advertising business maintained double-digit growth for the third consecutive quarter, with a year-over-year increase of over 10%, while sales in the data center division supporting AI services grew particularly significantly, exceeding 30%.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai noted during the earnings call: "Search usage is at an all-time high, and artificial intelligence is propelling us into a new phase of sustained expansion." To address challenges from competitors like OpenAI, Google has deeply integrated its self-developed Gemini AI technology into core products such as its search engine, Gmail, and Chrome browser, continuously enhancing user experience and system intelligence.
Notably, to consolidate and expand its leading position in the field of artificial intelligence, Alphabet announced that it will invest over $300 billion between 2024 and the end of this year. The company expects its capital expenditure in 2025 to climb to between $175 billion and $185 billion, accounting for nearly half of its projected $403 billion in revenue. Ethan Feller, an equity strategist at Zacks Investment Research, commented that this scale of investment is "staggering," highlighting Alphabet's determination to fully bet on the future of AI.
Strong financial performance provides solid support for Alphabet's AI strategy. In the fourth quarter, digital advertising sales reached $82.3 billion, a 14% year-over-year increase; Google Cloud revenue reached $17.7 billion, a significant 48% year-over-year increase, making it one of the fastest-growing business segments.
Despite facing an antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., previously did not support the request to break up Google, citing, among other reasons, that the rise of artificial intelligence technology might help create a counterbalance to Google's market position. Currently, both the Department of Justice and Google have appealed the ruling, and the legal process continues.
Overall, Alphabet is driving forward through a dual-engine strategy of "business self-sufficiency" and "strategic investment." While maintaining the steady growth of its core advertising business, it is fully advancing the deployment of artificial intelligence technology and infrastructure, attempting to maintain its lead in the increasingly fierce competition in cutting-edge technology.
