Microsoft reports gains from cloud and AI investments

SAN FRANCISCO, United States — Microsoft beat analysts' expectations in its latest quarterly report, saying Wednesday that the results were partly driven by its cloud and artificial intelligence divisions.

The tech giant reported $90 billion in revenue and $31.5 billion in net income in the last quarter of its fiscal year which ended in June, potentially alleviating concerns from investors and analysts about whether its investments in AI are paying off.

Its AI-powered business productivity tool, called Copilot, also has over 30 million paid users which shows “confidence” from customers as they use Microsoft to “power their AI transformation,” CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement.

Microsoft also saw a $3.2 billion gain from its investment in Anthropic, the company said.

Its investments in OpenAI boosted Microsoft's net profit by $480 million in its fourth quarter and $4.9 billion for its full fiscal year, the company added.

Major tech companies in the United States have been spending billions to build out AI infrastructure and develop increasingly more advanced AI models.

Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta are collectively on track to pour roughly $700 billion into AI data centers, chips and computing infrastructure this year alone.

In June, Google parent company Alphabet announced it would raise up to $80 billion in stock to fund its AI efforts, with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway committing $10 billion.

Investors and analysts will be looking for clues about Microsoft's ongoing plans to pour cash into AI projects during a call with analysts later Wednesday.

Source: Manilatimes