Google hits record $400B revenue
What's the story
Google's parent company Alphabet has reported a record-breaking revenue of over $400 billion for the first time in its history. The massive growth was largely fueled by the company's core search business and expanding cloud division. Despite heavy investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing, Alphabet has managed to surpass Wall Street's earnings expectations with an 18% year-on-year (YoY) increase in quarterly revenue.
CEO statement
AI investments and challenges in meeting demand
Despite the aggressive investments, Alphabet's CEO Sundar Pichai admitted that the demand is still outpacing what they can provide. "We've been supply constrained even as we've been ramping up our capacity," he said during an earnings call. This statement highlights the challenges faced by tech giants like Google in meeting the growing demand for their services, especially in the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence (AI).
Information
Surge in Gemini AI platform users
Google's Gemini has gained immense popularity, ending the year with 750 million monthly users. This is an increase of 100 million from the previous quarter. Emarketer analyst Nate Elliott predicts that Google will surpass OpenAI this year to become the leader in AI technology.
Cloud growth
Cloud revenue soars, highlighting growth areas
Alphabet's cloud revenue has seen a massive 48% jump, hitting $17.7 billion in the last quarter of 2025. This highlights its growing importance as Alphabet competes with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. "We're seeing our AI investments and infrastructure drive revenue and growth across the board," Pichai said, emphasizing the impact of their AI initiatives on overall business performance.
Ad growth
Digital ad sales and subscription services boost revenue
Alphabet's digital ad sales reached $82.3 billion for the year, driven by Google's core search business and YouTube advertising revenue, which also rose to $11.4 billion from $10.5 billion last year. The company now has over 325 million paid subscriptions across consumer offerings like Google One and YouTube Premium, providing a steady revenue base for its AI ambitions.