Table of Contents

• Alphabet

• Tesla

• Google Cloud

Top Stories Today

Economy & Finance

Alphabet

Alphabet reported better-than-expected Q2 revenue and profit, driven by strong digital ad sales and cloud service demand. However, the stock fell over 4% due to concerns about rising investments in AI infrastructure, squeezing margins, and YouTube facing tough competition. Capital expenditure surged to $13.2 billion, exceeding expectations. Despite the dip, analysts remain optimistic about Alphabet's AI advancements and cloud growth, with 25 brokerages raising price targets. Alphabet's core Search business also showed resilience, beating estimates despite a competitive landscape.

Tesla

Tesla's shares plummeted 11% on Wednesday, erasing nearly $90 billion in market value, following CEO Elon Musk's discussion on humanoid robots and driverless taxis, which failed to reassure investors concerned about diminishing profit margins. The company reported its lowest quarterly profit margin in five years and missed earnings per share estimates for the fourth straight quarter. Despite maintaining its status as the world's most valuable car maker, Tesla's market capitalization fell to $700 billion from over $1 trillion in 2021. The decline was exacerbated by the absence of a lower-cost model and intensified competition from rivals like China's BYD. Musk's ambitious timelines for new products and AI advancements did not mitigate investor concerns about the company's immediate financial health.

Technology

Google Cloud

Google Cloud announced it will integrate Mistral AI's Codestral artificial intelligence model into its Vertex AI service. This collaboration underscores the rapid ascent of Mistral AI, seen as Europe's counterpart to Microsoft-backed OpenAI. The partnership aims to enhance code generation tasks within Vertex AI, aligning with Google Cloud's strategy to support open and flexible AI ecosystems. Mistral AI, founded in 2023 by former Google DeepMind and Meta AI scientists, has garnered significant funding and recently partnered with BNP Paribas to deploy its AI models in various business functions.

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