Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft earnings rise; Apple to open its wallet on AI; YouTube to use AI to estimate age
Tech giants Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft this week eclipsed earnings expectations, cashing in on artificial intelligence (AI) while navigating economic waters roiled by U.S. tariffs. 'Massive results seen by Microsoft and Meta further validate the use cases and unprecedented spending trajectory for the AI Revolution on both the enterprise and consumer fronts,' Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors.
'We have barely scratched the surface of this 4th Industrial Revolution now playing out around the world led by the Big Tech stalwarts such as Nvidia, Microsoft, Palantir, Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon,' Ives added. Amazon reported a 35% jump in quarterly profits as the e-commerce giant said major investments in AI technology are paying off. 'Our conviction that AI will change every customer experience is starting to play out,' said Chief Executive Andy Jassy, pointing to the company's expanded Alexa+ service and new AI shopping agents.
Apple to open its wallet on AI
Apple CEO Tim Cook signaled that the iPhone maker was ready to spend more to catch up to rivals in AI by building more data centers or buying a larger player in the segment. Apple has struggled to keep pace with rivals such as Microsoft and Alphabet's Google which have attracted hundreds of millions of users to their AI-powered chatbots and assistants at a steep cost, with Google planning to spend $85 billion over the next year and Microsoft on track to spend more than $100 billion.
Apple, in contrast, has leaned on outside data center providers to handle some of its cloud computing work, and despite a high-profile partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI for certain iPhone features, has tried to grow much of its AI technology in-house, including improvements to its Siri virtual assistant. The results have been rocky, with the company delaying its Siri improvements until next year.
YouTube to use AI to estimate age
YouTube will deploy an age estimation model to detect if U.S.-based users under 18 are using its video sharing platform. Based on the estimation, the platform will provide a safer user experience for the minors. YouTube emphasised that it had followed this approach in other markets ahead of gradual rollout in the U.S. The age estimation model uses signals such as YouTube activity and the longevity of the account to detect whether the user is a minor. If it deciphers the user to be under 18, it will notify them so they can submit a photo-based ID and verify their age.
In case YouTube flags the user as under 18, it will enable the standard protections for teen accounts on YouTube. These include showing only non-personalised ads, enabling 'take a break' and bedtime reminders, showing reminders about privacy when making public actions, and minimising video recommendations that could be 'problematic.'
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