Syz the moment

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

Alphabet earned $1.89 per share on $84.74 billion in revenue. Consensus estimates had called for earnings of $1.84 per share on $84.19 billion in revenue. However, revenue at its Youtube advertising segment missed forecasts. $GOOG Alphabet Q2 FY24 by App Economy Insights: • Revenue +14% Y/Y to $84.7B ($0.5B beat). • Operating margin 32% (+3pp Y/Y). • EPS $1.89 ($0.04 beat). ☁️ Google Cloud: • Revenue +29% Y/Y to $10.3B. • Operating margin 11% (+6pp Y/Y). ▶️ YouTube ads +13% to $8.7B.

"AI data center racks consume significantly more power than traditional data centers with a search on ChatGPT consuming 6 to 10 times the power of a traditional search on Google" $EMR $GOOG $GOOGL $MSFT Source: The Transcript

As the tech giant builds a team to battle rivals in developing new AI models and products. According to a Financial Times analysis of hundreds of LinkedIn profiles as well as public job postings and research papers, the $2.7tn company has undertaken a hiring spree over recent years to expand its global AI and machine learning team. The iPhone maker has particularly targeted workers from Google, attracting at least 36 specialists from its rival since it poached John Giannandrea to be its top AI executive in 2018. While the majority of Apple’s AI team work from offices in California and Seattle, the tech group has also expanded a significant outpost in Zurich. Professor Luc Van Gool from Swiss university ETH Zurich said Apple’s acquisitions of two local AI start-ups — virtual reality group FaceShift and image recognition company Fashwell — led Apple to build a research laboratory, known as its “Vision Lab”, in the city. Source: FT