Alphabet, Amazon Drew 70% and 65% of Profit From AI Stakes, Exposing Market Risk
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 14
Alphabet, Amazon Drew 70% and 65% of Profit From AI Stakes, Exposing Market Risk
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 14
Summary
More than 70% of Alphabet’s quarterly net income and about 65% of Amazon’s came from investment gains rather than core operations, highlighting how much recent profit depended on rising AI-related holdings.
Those gains were driven largely by Alphabet’s stake in SpaceX and Amazon’s investment in Anthropic, showing that two companies helping lift the market are increasingly tied to other AI winners’ valuations.
SpaceX’s June IPO—described as the biggest ever—and Anthropic’s planned listing helped turn private AI bets into a major earnings engine for Big Tech.
The pattern points to a broader market vulnerability: companies pushing indexes to record highs are becoming more dependent on one another’s success, creating a circular AI-driven profit loop.