Amazon sales surge as company trains focus on artificial intelligence

Amazon.com posts record first-quarter sales as AI boom fuels growth in the company’s cloud computing unit and helps the company continue to emerge from last year’s post-pandemic slump reported that it did.

Sales rose 13% to $143.3 billion, a record high for the January-March period, and profits soared to $10.4 billion. Both numbers exceeded Wall Street expectations.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has made a major shift in the company’s direction to focus on AI innovation after the company fell behind Microsoft, Google and other peers in this area. Earlier this month, in his annual letter to shareholders, he said he was focused on establishing Amazon’s next pillar of growth after online retail marketplace Amazon Prime and cloud computing division Amazon Web. In this article, I outlined my vision of how generative AI can become an important component. service.

AMAZON Q is the most capable AI assistant: MAI-LAN TOMSEN BUKOVEC

Revenue from Amazon Web Services’ cloud computing division, a vital profit center for the company, rose more than 17% in the first quarter to about $25 billion. The division’s operating profit increased nearly 84%.

Amazon President and CEO attends the Los Angeles premiere of Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Ring of Power held at Culver Studios in Culver City, California on August 15, 2022. CEO Andy Jassy. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images/Getty Images)

Jassy said AWS’ AI capabilities have re-accelerated the business’ growth rate, which now reaches $100 billion in annual revenue.

Amazon introduces $9.99 unlimited grocery delivery subscription with Prime

Amazon stock rose 2% in after-hours. By Tuesday’s close, the stock had risen about 15% since the beginning of the year.

CLICK HERE TO GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO

Amazon said advertising revenue rose 24% to $11.82 billion. The growth comes since the company started showing ads on its Prime Video platform in January unless customers pay an additional fee.