All articles tagged with #cloud computing
Analysts estimate that delivering Meta's Muse personal AI to 100 million users with dedicated cloud VMs (2 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM, 100 GB SSD per user) could require about 1.58 million AMD EPYC CPUs, roughly 100 petabytes of RAM and 10,000 petabytes of SSD; CPU sharing could reduce core counts but RAM/storage demands are daunting, and expansion to platforms like WhatsApp/Instagram could further drive compute needs.
Amazon was granted warrants to buy up to 1.69 million Generac shares at $200.93 each, potentially worth up to $8 billion, as part of a deal to supply backup power generators for AWS data centers; about 308,000 warrants vested immediately with the rest in installments, and initial deliveries are expected to total $2.4 billion in 2027–2028. The warrants, representing roughly 3% of Generac’s shares and contributing to a more than 40% post-market rally, reflect Amazon’s ongoing pattern of taking stakes in suppliers to fuel its expanding cloud infrastructure and AI workloads.
Apple released iOS 27 with a redesigned Siri AI in beta that requires opt-in (and may pit users on a waitlist). The new Siri uses on-device personal data and local models for everyday tasks, with Private Cloud Compute using Google Cloud for more complex queries and chips that can run the AI on iPhone 18 devices. Daily usage limits may apply, with expanded limits potentially offered for a fee later. Siri currently supports English, with French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish coming next month, and it won’t be available in the EU or China initially due to regulatory reasons.
Oracle posted strong Q1 FY27 results, with revenue up 30% to $19.3B and cloud revenue up 62% to $11.6B, led by a 121% surge in cloud infrastructure to $7.4B; adjusted EPS rose 30% to $1.92 vs $1.75 expected, as AI cloud training and inference demand grows (with OpenAI among customers). The news sent Oracle stock higher initially but the shares wavered in Friday trading as investors digested the details.
Oracle beat Q1 estimates with revenue of $19.35B and adjusted EPS of $1.92, raising fiscal 2027 targets to at least $90B in revenue and $8.10 per share, as AI cloud bookings helped lift backlog to $664B. The company expanded its cloud footprint to 70 regions and said roughly half of new RPOs should convert to revenue in the next 36 months. An analyst argued Oracle’s AI infrastructure demand growth is outpacing AWS and Azure, while the company funded capacity via a $20B ATM offering despite negative free cash flow. Shares rose after the results.
Microsoft is restructuring its financial reporting into two segments—Agents and Infra, and Devices and Consumer—and will disclose Azure quarterly revenue for the first time, starting in fiscal Q1 2027, to reflect AI’s growing influence on its business.
Amazon shares rose about 1.8% to around $263.16 after stronger AWS growth—37% to $42.2 billion—helped offset broader tech worries, as second-quarter sales climbed 20% to $200.6 billion. AWS’s booming performance underscored the company’s cloud moat, while Amazon said 2026 capital spending could reach roughly $220 billion, about $20 billion more than prior plans, signaling continued cloud investment even as trailing free cash flow remains negative.
Alibaba priced an HK$80 billion share placement, issuing 710 million new shares at HK$112.70 each to non-U.S. investors, with net proceeds earmarked for expanding AI capabilities and infrastructure. The move follows a 75% quarterly profit drop as AI spending weighed on results, with capital expenditure up 75% to 67.7 billion yuan; Alibaba had pledged to invest at least 380 billion yuan in AI and cloud infrastructure over three years. The stock slid up to about 10% in Hong Kong after the news.
Apollo Global Management said hackers gained unauthorized access to information on its cloud platforms from July 6–10, exposing names, birth dates, home addresses and Social Security numbers; the breach is attributed to a social engineering incident, law enforcement was notified, and there is no evidence yet that personal data was publicly posted or used for fraud.
Alibaba reported a 75% year‑on‑year drop in June-quarter net income as AI-related capex jumped 75% to 67.7 billion yuan, even as revenue rose 9% to 268.95 billion yuan and cloud revenue climbed 45% to 48.4 billion yuan. AI‑related product revenue delivered triple‑digit growth for the twelfth straight quarter, though higher compute costs and overall capex raised concerns about returns, with free cash flow negative by 44.7 billion yuan. The stock fell roughly 4.6–5% in U.S. trading as Alibaba continues its full‑stack AI push and price increases for AI computing/storage products amid intensifying competition.
Berkshire Hathaway boosted its Alphabet stake by about 658% in the latest quarter, with 24/7 Wall St. assigning a Buy rating and a $445.49 price target (roughly 30% upside from recent levels). Alphabet trades around 17x trailing earnings, cheaper than Microsoft and Meta, while Google Cloud’s $514 billion backlog and 82% revenue growth bolster the bull case. Key risks include heavy 2026 capital expenditure and negative free cash flow, though analysts see continued cloud momentum and AI adoption as catalysts.
Hedge fund investor Steve Eisman warns the AI boom is heavily dependent on OpenAI and Anthropic, which account for a large share of AI-related revenue at major cloud firms. He cautions that cheaper Chinese open-source models could spark a price war and threaten returns, echoing concerns from other investors like Michael Burry.
CoreWeave reported Q2 revenue of $2.58 billion and an adjusted net loss of $567 million, beating expectations and leaving a backlog of $104 billion, as AI infrastructure demand remains strong. The stock jumped about 14% after hours, with management calling the quarter an important inflection point driven by capacity expansion and operating leverage. The company highlighted notable customer wins (including Isomorphic Labs) and Nvidia collaboration, flagged a sharply higher capex run rate (about $9.4 billion this quarter), and raised full-year guidance to $12.4–$13.2 billion and Q3 guidance to $3.45–$3.6 billion, with margins expected to climb into the low teens by Q4.
Oracle plans another round of layoffs to trim payroll as it borrows billions to fund AI infrastructure, with internal documents suggesting double-digit cuts in some teams and a Sept. 1 deadline for reductions. This follows a 2026 fiscal year in which headcount fell about 21,000 (13%) to roughly 141,000. The company spent $55.7 billion on infrastructure and raised about $43 billion in debt, with roughly $40 billion more expected, while revenue rose 17% and cloud infrastructure grew 77%; the stock has fallen about 26% this year, and Ellison has downplayed AI fears.
Alphabet plans to raise up to $25 billion in investment-grade bonds to fund data-center and AI infrastructure, after boosting its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to $195–$205 billion. Q2 spending remained high as Google Cloud revenue surged 82% and backlog reached $514 billion, while free cash flow was negative (-$5.9 billion) despite substantial cash on hand. The move signals financing for an AI-driven expansion, but it raises questions about whether cloud revenue and margins will offset depreciation, energy and interest costs; the strategy’s durability depends on continued cloud growth, backlog conversion and monetization of AI products.