Amazon Web Services (AWS) experienced a surge in revenue, while other tech companies are making significant investments in AI and related technologies, according to recent reports. The developments highlight the ongoing importance of cloud computing and artificial intelligence in today's economy.
AWS reported $35.6 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2025, marking a 24% year-over-year increase and its strongest quarterly growth rate in over three years, according to Amazon. The annual revenue run rate for the business segment is $142 billion. The cloud service also saw an increase in its operating income from $12.5 billion in the fourth quarter compared to $10.6 billion in the same period in 2024. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy noted the significance of this growth, stating, "It's very different having 24% year-over-year growth on $142 billion annualized run rate than to have a higher percentage growth on a meaningfully smaller base, which is the case with our competitors."
Meanwhile, Amazon is also making substantial capital expenditures in AI, chips, robotics, and low earth orbit satellites. The company projects $200 billion in capital expenditures throughout 2026, up from $131.8 billion in 2025, according to its earnings report. This investment reflects a broader trend in the tech industry, where companies are racing to build data centers and acquire compute power to develop advanced AI products.
Reddit is also exploring the potential of AI, particularly in search. During its fourth-quarter earnings call, the company suggested that its AI-powered search engine could be a significant opportunity for its business and a revenue driver. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said that generative AI search would be better for most queries. "There's a type of query we're particularly good at... which is questions that have no answers, where the answer actually is multiple perspectives from lots of people," he said.
In other tech news, Sapiom, a San Francisco startup, raised $15 million to develop a solution that helps nontechnical creators connect applications with external tech services. The company, founded by former Shopify director of engineering Ilan Zerbib, aims to eliminate back-end infrastructure headaches for those using prompt-to-code tools.
The increasing reliance on technology, particularly AI, has transformed society, with software and advanced manufacturing impacting various aspects of life, according to TechCrunch. This tech, much of it created in Silicon Valley, has turned tech leaders into influential figures.
Discussion
AI Experts & Community
Be the first to comment