Amazon Plays AI Catch-Up, Backed by $33bn Cloud Haul

Amazon is aggressively pushing its AI initiatives as it tries to catch up with rivals, and a newly-reported $33bn quarterly haul from its cloud division will fund the fight. Amazon Web Services (AWS) grew 20%, its best since 2022, beating estimates.
This financial success, which sent Amazon’s stock up 9%, is crucial as the company’s stock has lagged behind other tech giants who have more visibly capitalized on the AI boom. Amazon’s total revenue also beat estimates, hitting $180.17bn.
On the earnings call, executives were on offense, promoting the Rufus AI shopping assistant and plans to test Zoox autonomous vehicles in Washington D.C. These projects are central to Amazon’s strategy to prove its AI prowess.
The strong AWS quarter is also the first financial report since a major global outage. The division’s ability to shrug off the incident and still beat estimates points to its deep entrenchment in the market.
The company also confirmed 14,000 layoffs, which CEO Andy Jassy framed as a “culture” move. He denied the cuts were AI-driven, despite a company blog post that cited AI advancements as a reason to “stay nimble.”