Syz the moment

Julian Kelly, Director of Hardware at Google Quantum AI: "We think we're about five years out from a real breakout... a practical application that you can only solve on a quantum computer." Following Google’s December breakthrough in quantum error correction, momentum is building fast. These supercomputers could soon tackle physics problems and generate data beyond the reach of today’s machines. Quantum computing is no longer a far-off dream — it’s becoming a near-term reality. Source: CNBC thru Mario Nawfal

A $32B move to dominate cloud security. Nearly as much as its 10 largest deals—combined. Source: App Economy Insights @EconomyApp

Worldwide searches for the Bitcoin have doubled over the last several weeks. However, search interest is still below the December 2017 peak and spikes seen in 2019 and 2021. Since November 1st, Bitcoin prices have surged 42.5% and are trading near $100,000. Source: The Kobeissi Letter

Google makes quantum computing breakthrough with new chip capable of solving computational problems in under 5 minutes, that would otherwise take the leading supercomputer: 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years Source: Radar

While Google’s latest woes seem to center on the DOJ’s antitrust efforts, the search-engine giant may soon face another — perhaps even greater — threat to its moat: losing its dominance in search ads. In 2023, Google earned over $175 billion (or 57% of Alphabet’s total sales) solely from search advertising. However, Google is gradually losing ground in the $300 billion-strong global market for search ads, as both users and advertisers shift to competitors like Amazon and AI tools, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to data from eMarketer, Google’s share of the search-advertising market is forecast to drop below 50% next year for the first time since tracking began in 2008, with revenue growing at a modest 7.6% year over year. Meanwhile, Amazon’s search-ad revenue surged by 17.6% over the same period. Indeed, users are increasingly turning to platforms like Amazon or TikTok for their shopping searches and general queries, according to WSJ. The seemingly inevitable rise of AI is also playing a role: a survey from New Street Research found that nearly 60% of US consumers used a chatbot to help them decide on a purchase in the past 30 days. Source: Chartr, WSJ

The company’s shares rose 4% on the results. Alphabet’s revenue grew 15% year over year, which is stronger than the same quarter last year. The company reported blow-out cloud revenue at $11.35 billion — up nearly 35% from the $8.41 billion a year ago. The company attributed its strong cloud results to their AI offerings, which includes subscriptions for enterprise customers. $GOOG Alphabet Q3 FY24: • Revenue +15% Y/Y to $88.3B ($2.0B beat). • Operating margin 32% (+4pp Y/Y). • EPS $2.12 ($0.27 beat). Google Cloud: • Revenue +35% Y/Y to $11.4B. • Operating margin 17% (+14pp Y/Y). YouTube ads +12% to $8.9B. Source: App Economy Insights

Under the deal’s terms, Google committed to buying power generated by seven reactors to be built by nuclear-energy startup Kairos Power. The agreement targets adding 500 megawatts of nuclear power starting at the end of the decade (Source WSJ)

TikTok is already targeting ads based on search queries, and AI startup Perplexity, backed by Jeff Bezos, is planning to roll out ads soon. Meanwhile, Amazon, with a 22.3% share, continues to grow fast. The competition is heating up... Source: WSJ thru Wall Street Engine