Tech Giants' AI Investments Signal Search Reshaping and Market Battle.

Microsoft and Google emphasized the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in their respective earnings calls, with Microsoft suggesting that a "generational shift" is underway in the search market. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said app installations have quadrupled since the launch of AI-powered Bing in February, while Google CEO Sundar Pichai downplayed the impact of AI on the search advertising business. Google's revenue from search and related businesses rose to almost $40.4bn in Q1 2021, beating analysts' estimates, while Microsoft's shares rose as much as 7.7% in premarket trading.