Tech earnings calls show mega-cap companies going big on A.I. as they cut costs elsewhere

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Google launched Bard AI, it’s own chatbot to rival Microsoft and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

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Tech investors are eager to hear how much industry leaders are bolstering profitability now that they’re in cost-cutting mode.

But there’s one area where they also want to see hefty investments: artificial intelligence.

Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta all reported quarterly results this week, updating Wall Street on their efforts to improve efficiency as economic concerns mount. When it comes to AI and the latest boom in so-called large language models (LLMs) that power products like ChatGPT, the mega-cap tech companies can’t afford to get left behind.

Generative AI programs use increasing amounts of data and processing power to produce outputs that seem like they were made by a human — a block of text, a snippet of code, or a computer-generated image. They require specialized supercomputers that aren’t cheap.

On their earnings calls this week, tech CEOs talked at length about the potential for AI, whether they’re building their own models or rapidly integrating it into products. The common theme was their emphasis on the large sums of money they’ll be spending to build and run these applications.

Here’s what executives from Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta told analysts:

Alphabet

Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc.

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Microsoft

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks during an interview in Redmond, Washington, on March 15, 2023.

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Amazon

Andy Jassy on stage at the 2022 New York Times DealBook on November 30, 2022 in New York City.

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Meta

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Meta Platforms, in July 2021.

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried to dispel the notion that his company is no longer focused on the metaverse after turning his attention in that direction in late 2021.

But he wanted investors to know that Meta can invest in metaverse technologies while simultaneously putting tons of resources into AI, which he called a “key theme” for his company.

Zuckerberg said that while the company has used machine learning to deliver recommendations and power products like Facebook’s news feed or ad systems, a new main area of focus is generative foundation models.

“It’s been a pretty amazing year of progress on this front, and the work happening now is going to impact every single one of our apps and services,” Zuckerberg said.

He said the company would work on a variety of products using the technology, including chat experiences in WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, tools for making images for posts on Facebook and Instagram, and eventually programs that could spit out entire videos from short descriptions.

A concept he’s particularly excited about is “AI agents,” which often refer to AI programs that can carry out goals.

“There’s an opportunity to introduce AI agents to billions of people in ways that will be useful and meaningful,” Zuckerberg said. One possibility for an AI agent would be to handle customer service for businesses, Meta has said.

Zuckerberg discussed the company’s big investments to build out its datacenters for AI applications. He said the technology was the “main driver” of Meta’s growth in capital expenditures over the past few years.

“At this point we are no longer behind in building out our AI infrastructure,” Zuckerberg said.

That doesn’t mean Meta is done buying graphics processors. Zuckerberg said the company would need to “continue investing,” but would do so after it launches its generative AI products and gets a better grasp on the resources required.

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