Google Cloud Boom Silences AI Spending Critics

Google's latest earnings report offers relief to anxious investors, with Cloud revenue surging 82% year-over-year to $24.8 billion, driven by enterprise AI adoption. The company's cloud backlog hit $514 billion, overall revenue grew 24% to $119.8 billion, and profit jumped to $112.1 billion. Despite capital expenditure plans of $180-190 billion for the year, CEO Sundar Pichai expressed confidence in the investments, citing strong demand and healthier market dynamics. Gemini now boasts 950 million monthly active users, up from 750 million last quarter, marking Google's 12th consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth.