AI & Tech Weekly (Oct 27–Nov 2): OpenAI’s $1.4T Bet, Google’s Record Earnings, and Nvidia’s Cross-Industry Expansion
The past week in AI was nothing short of extraordinary. From Alphabet breaking the $100 billion quarterly revenue barrier and Microsoft pouring billions into AI infrastructure, to Qualcomm’s bold challenge to Nvidia and OpenAI’s $1.4 trillion megaproject — this week marked a turning point for how AI is reshaping global technology and business ecosystems.
1. Alphabet: Revenue Surpasses $100B as Gemini Takes Off
Alphabet reported Q3 2025 revenue exceeding $100 billion for the first time, up 16% year over year. Core businesses — Search, YouTube, and Cloud — all achieved double-digit growth.
The Gemini app now has over 650 million monthly active users, processing 7 billion tokens per minute. In the U.S. alone, Gemini’s AI mode has 75 million daily active users. Monthly token throughput has surged from 980 trillion in July to over 1,300 trillion.
Comment:
Crossing $100 billion in quarterly revenue cements Alphabet’s evolution from a search empire to an AI superpower.
Gemini’s explosive growth signals that AI search is entering the mainstream.
Even more impressive — Alphabet’s cloud backlog hit $155 billion, showing massive demand for AI training and inference. The walls of Alphabet’s AI fortress are rising fast, though OpenAI, Microsoft, and Nvidia remain formidable rivals.
2. Microsoft: Cloud and Copilot Power Growth, AI CapEx Up 45%
Microsoft’s FY2026 Q1 revenue rose 18% to $77.7 billion.
The Intelligent Cloud division (including Azure) grew 28% to $30.9 billion, while the Business Applications segment (Office, LinkedIn, Dynamics) rose 17% to $33 billion.
CapEx skyrocketed 45% from $24 billion to $34.9 billion this quarter.
Comment:
Microsoft’s enterprise and cloud momentum shows AI demand is still accelerating.
The surge in CapEx — mostly funneled into data centers, Nvidia and in-house GPU clusters, and fiber network upgrades — reflects its long-term AI infrastructure ambitions.
Copilot adoption has reached 15%, signaling deep integration into Microsoft’s productivity ecosystem. Despite sluggish PC sales, the “Cloud + AI + Office” trifecta remains Microsoft’s moat.
3. Apple: Dual Growth Engines — Hardware and Services, but AI Still Lags
Apple’s Q4 FY2025 revenue hit $102.5 billion, up 7.9%.
iPhone revenue rose 6.1% to $49 billion, while Mac sales jumped 12.7%, driven by strong MacBook Air performance.
Software and services brought in $28.8 billion, exceeding expectations. The only weak spot: China revenue slipped year over year.
Comment:
Apple’s balanced performance shows resilience in premium hardware and recurring services.
MacBook Air’s rebound amid a 10% global PC recovery shows renewed strength in its ecosystem.
However, Apple Intelligence and Siri remain underwhelming — Apple’s generative AI strategy still feels cautious and late to the game.
4. Qualcomm Launches AI200 & AI250 Chips, Officially Joins the Data Center War
Qualcomm introduced two new AI chips — AI200 and AI250 — targeting the AI data center market dominated by Nvidia and AMD.
Both chips use Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU and are expected to launch commercially in 2026 and 2027. Following the announcement, Qualcomm shares surged over 11% to $205.
Comment:
Qualcomm is transforming from a mobile chip giant into an AI compute contender.
The stock rally shows strong investor confidence, but the road ahead is steep — ecosystem maturity, developer adoption, and customer trust will determine whether Qualcomm can truly challenge Nvidia’s near-monopoly.
5. Nvidia Invests in Nokia, Builds AI “Factories” with Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson
Nvidia invested $1 billion in Nokia, driving the telecom giant’s stock up 22%.
CEO Jensen Huang also announced a partnership with Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson to build an AI supercomputer — dubbed an “AI factory” — for drug discovery and manufacturing.
Comment:
Nvidia is evolving beyond chipmaking into cross-industry AI infrastructure.
By investing in telecom and pharma, it’s embedding itself into global digital and biological supply chains.
Nvidia’s moat is expanding from compute to influence — and the next frontier could be finance, education, or even energy.
6. OpenAI Unveils $1.4 Trillion Infrastructure Plan — The “AI Researcher” Era
OpenAI announced plans to invest approximately $1.4 trillion in AI data centers and self-evolving research systems over the next few years.
Two milestones have been set:
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September 2026: “AI Research Intern” — able to assist human researchers with experiment design and analysis.
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March 2028: “Fully Autonomous AI Researcher” — capable of independently completing full scientific projects.
Comment:
This plan marks a bold experiment in AI-driven science.
The 2026 milestone represents a shift from language models to research assistants; by 2028, AI could become a self-sufficient scientific force.
Yet, the $1.4 trillion cost — nearly one-third of Apple’s market cap — raises serious questions about funding, ROI, and feasibility.
It’s a breathtaking gamble — or perhaps the dawn of a new scientific paradigm.
7. Meta Platforms: Betting Big on AI, Revenue and Users Hit Record Highs
Meta reported $51.2 billion in Q3 2025 revenue, with global DAUs surpassing 3.5 billion.
Instagram MAUs exceeded 3 billion, Threads reached 150 million DAUs, and Reels hit $50 billion in annualized revenue.
Meta AI’s user base surpassed 1 billion.
Comment:
Meta now touches half the global internet population, with video and AI driving growth.
Its $19.4 billion AI CapEx shows Meta’s full commitment to AI infrastructure.
Yet despite this, Meta still lacks a breakout “killer AI app.” Facing strong competition from OpenAI, Gemini, and DeepSeek, its next step must go beyond infrastructure — into consumer AI experience.
8. Amazon: Cloud and Ads Surge, But AI Strategy Under Pressure
Amazon posted Q3 FY2025 net sales of $180.2 billion, up 13%.
Advertising revenue hit $17.6 billion (+22%), and AWS grew 20.2%, with backlog orders reaching $200 billion.
Comment:
Amazon’s “Cloud + Ads + E-commerce” engine remains strong.
AWS’s rebound shows enterprises are leaning heavily on Amazon’s cloud for generative AI workloads.
Yet compared to Microsoft’s Copilot and Google’s Gemini, Amazon lacks a signature AI product.
Its infrastructure remains powerful, but without an ecosystem-defining AI application, Amazon risks being confined to the backend of the AI revolution.
Conclusion: The New Cycle of AI Giants
From Alphabet’s record-breaking revenue to OpenAI’s trillion-dollar vision, from Qualcomm’s chip challenge to Nvidia’s AI empire — the age of AI storytelling has ended.
We’ve entered the execution era — where capital, compute, and control define the new industrial order.
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Last week’s highlights:
AI & Tech Weekly (Oct 20–Oct 24): AWS Outage, OpenAI Launches AI Browser, Meta’s $27B Datacenter Fund, and Apple’s iPhone 17 Surge