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☆ Interview: Amazon Web Services cofounder Charlie Bell dishes on why he moved to Microsoft, how he met Satya Nadella, and if he'll ever work on Azure
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Amazon Web Services cofounder Charlie Bell left in 2021 for a job at Microsoft. Many in the industry, including current and former Microsoft and Amazon executives, wonder whether there's a better job for Bell. In a rare interview with Insider, Bell discussed why he left Amazon, how he met Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and whether he'll ever work on Azure. Wind the clock back to January of 2021, Jeff (Bezos) came to us and said, "Hey, I'm going to retire." The more I thought about it, the more I thought, "Well, Microsoft might be the place to do it."

☆ CEOs are getting closer to finally saying it — AI will wipe out more jobs than they can count
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Tech workers are finding out what it's like to be replaced by AI. It's the boldest statement yet from tech firms turning to AI to help them get efficient. Tech workers are about to find out. Here are five tech firms that have acted first with a big bet on AI. AmazonAmazon has been among the most bruised tech firms since the downturn of 2022 was kickstarted.

By comparison, less than 5% of companies mentioned AI in analyst calls held during the first quarter of 2016. Big Tech mentions jump AI has been a growing theme in Big Tech as companies try to capitalize on the wave following 2022's selloff. In calls from Big Tech companies alone, AI was mentioned 265 times. Executives at real estate company UDR said its AI chat has a 10% higher closing rate than normal call centers. Interpublic Group of Companies CEO Philippe Krakowsky noted the advertising company brought on a chief AI officer two years ago.

☆ Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet deliver slower cloud growth. Here's how AI could reverse that trend
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

As more and more businesses of all sizes continue their digital transformations, Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet aim to be there to provide cloud solutions. However, those gains quickly evaporated as the post-earnings call got underway and Wall Street learned of slowing cloud growth in April , the first month of Q2. The company is now using AI as a tool to accelerate cloud growth and gain share. The Club's take: Microsoft demonstrated impressive cloud growth given the difficult macroeconomic backdrop for the quarter. We hope to see a reacceleration in cloud growth along with profitability momentum.

☆ Top cloud providers Amazon, Microsoft and Google face ongoing spending cuts by clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The result is slowing revenue growth at the cloud divisions run by Amazon , Microsoft and Google . AWS saw deceleration in the third and fourth quarters, and last quarter Microsoft finance chief Amy Hood spooked analysts with comments about a slowdown in December that she expected to persist. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said "what we're seeing is enterprises continuing to be cautious in their spending in this uncertain time." At Google, cloud growth slowed to 28% from a year earlier in the first quarter from 32% in the prior period. WATCH: Ongoing deceleration in IT spending not reflected in tech earnings

☆ Google Cloud boss Kurian's rocky path to profit: 'We were not in a very good situation'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, right, arrives on stage as Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai exits during the Google Cloud Next event in San Francisco on April 9, 2019. Earlier this week, Alphabet said Google's cloud unit generated $191 million in operating profit, after losing a total of $4 billion in 2021 and 2022. Under Kurian's predecessor, VMware co-founder Diane Greene, critics said Google's cloud business hadn't matured enough to handle enterprises even as it was investing heavily to do so. The cloud division includes the Google Cloud Platform, which competes with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, and the Google Workspace productivity software bundle that goes head-to-head with Microsoft Office. Google Cloud technology chief Will Grannis said Kurian's commitment to improving the division's offerings was evident right away.

☆ Amazon is the growth laggard of the cloud industry now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon said cloud revenue trended down by 500 basis points in April, suggesting year-over-year growth of 11%. The three largest cloud companies reported results in recent days and the growth picture for Amazon Web Services is, well, cloudy. Microsoft's Azure cloud unit grew sales by 31% year over year in the first quarter, while Google Cloud reported a 28% increase. So that suggests a year-over-year growth rate of just 11% for the early part of the second quarter. AWS is still the largest cloud provider, but if Microsoft continues to outgrow Amazon every quarter, the gap will narrow.

☆ Amazon drops 4% on slowing cloud growth projections. Here's how the pros are playing it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Christina Falso | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Market Movers rounded up the best reactions from investors and analysts on Amazon 's earnings report, which beat estimates on the top and bottom lines. The experts, including Jim Cramer , discussed the megacap tech giant's outlook in the wake of the first-quarter report on Thursday. Shares of the stock rallied initially in Thursday's extended session, but then reversed course. By Friday's close, the stock lost 4% as investors reacted to Amazon's expectation that Amazon Web Services cloud growth will slow. Amazon is currently held in Cramer's Charitable Trust portfolio.

☆ Amazon dips after slowing cloud growth projections. Here's how the pros are playing it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Christina Falso | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAmazon dips after slowing cloud growth projections. Here's how the pros are playing itJim Cramer, Daniel Flax of Neuberger Berman, James Lee of Mizuho Securities, Jim Lebenthal of Cerity Partners and Rob Sechan of NewEdge Wealth on what they think about Amazon's first-quarter earnings report and guidance for slower Amazon Web Services cloud growth.

☆ Wall Street analysts say Amazon is still a buy, but investors should ‘stay patient’ on AWS
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon is still a buy after its latest earnings results, even with some weakness in Amazon Web Services, according to Wall Street analysts. The online retail stock initially jumped Thursday night after Amazon reported better-than-expected revenue in its first quarter . Amazon shares were last down about 1% in the premarket. AMZN 1D mountain Amazon shares 1-day However, analysts stayed bullish long term on Amazon, citing continued upside in retail, but they urged investors to "stay patient" on AWS and look toward the long-term opportunity in cloud services. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs' Eric Sheridan reiterated his buy rating on Amazon, and raised his 12-month price target to $165 from $145.

☆ 'Oh Amazon, why are you making this issue so difficult?' Employees who can't commute to their assigned offices fear the consequences.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Change in remote statusSome Amazon employees hired during the pandemic said they were promised permanent remote work, through what they saw as a "handshake agreement." One employee shared their vice president's email in the Slack channel, saying this manager was willing to be more flexible. People walk into the lobby of Amazon offices in New York. Over 30,000 Amazon employees joined an internal Slack channel shortly after the RTO announcement and signed a petition to demand a reversal of the mandate. "Amazon, oh Amazon, why are you making this issue so difficult?"

☆ Tech giants are pouring money into A.I. as they cut costs elsewhere
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

He said Google is using AI to improve the conversion rate of ads and reduce the amount of "toxic text" that goes into AI models. "There will be a small number of companies that want to invest that time and money and we will be one of them at Amazon," Jassy said. A concept he's particularly excited about is "AI agents," which often refer to AI programs that can carry out goals. "At this point we are no longer behind in building out our AI infrastructure," Zuckerberg said. 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.

☆ Amazon's cloud warning rattles investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Aditya Soni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 28 (Reuters) - Growth in Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) lucrative cloud business is slowing and investors are worried. Shares fell 4% on Friday as Amazon's cloud business slowed in April after posting its weakest quarterly growth since the company began breaking out the unit's sales in 2015. The results are in contrast to those of Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Azure cloud business, which grew at 27%. Still, analysts were largely upbeat about Amazon's cloud prospects, with about 17 raising their price targets on the stock, compared with the 10 that lowered their view. "Amazon is the clear market share leader in cloud computing and they will remain that way," Sundaram said.

☆ Club meeting recap: Stocks gain, Eli Lilly, Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. Stocks head for winning week Discipline with Eli Lilly Stick with Amazon 1. Watch Eli Lilly The Club is looking to book some profits in pharmaceuticals giant Eli Lilly (LLY) when our trading restrictions are lifted. But the Club continues to see a bright future ahead for Eli Lilly, which raised its full-year outlook this week. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER .

☆ Amazon employees on performance-improvement plans have a little-known Slack channel. Leaked messages reveal anguish, despair, but also community.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

There's a word-of-mouth Slack channel used by Amazon employees on its performance-improvement plan. Most employees post anonymously; one former worker likened it to a virtual support group. The Slack channel, #focus-and-pivot-info, is not highly publicized, according to interviews with eight current and former Amazon employees, five of whom are or were members of the channel. Most employees post anonymously, making their comments difficult to verify or investigate further. On Slack, a sense of community — but also stressThe Slack channel does not appear to be public knowledge within the company.

☆ Amazon stock sinks after its warning on AWS growth erases a post-earnings rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon shares fell 5% Friday after the company warned about future revenue growth in its cloud division. That erased an earlier rally after-hours Thursday that could've added $135 billion in valuation to the tech giant. CFO Brian Olsavsky said some Amazon Web Services customers were cutting their costs in preparation for a potential economic slowdown. But shares slumped during a post-earnings conference call where executives warned of a likely slowdown in revenue growth at Amazon Web Services. "We are seeing these optimizations continue into the second quarter with April revenue growth rates about 500 basis points lower than what we saw in Q1," he added.

☆ Microsoft made a big bet with ChatGPT. Months later, it’s already paying off.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Microsoft bet billions on OpenAI — its gamble is already paying off. Some analysts said Microsoft's successful integration of AI signals that it has already pulled ahead of Google. They even projected that Microsoft's cloud service Azure could be on track to surpass long-dominant Amazon Web Services. My teammate Paayal Zaveri highlights how Microsoft's AI wager has made it a surprising leader in tech's hottest field. He hit $2 million by the end of 2020, and in 2022 alone, he sold $4 million worth of products.

☆ Amazon earnings: Company posts $3.2 billion profit as it goes through multiple rounds of layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

The e-commerce giant on Thursday reported a profit of $3.2 billion for the first quarter, up from a loss of $3.8 billion in the year ago quarter and far exceeding analysts estimates. The swing to a profit comes as Amazon (AMZN) has ramped up its cost-cutting measures in recent months. It also comes as key areas of Amazon’s business continue to grow despite lingering recession fears possibly weighing on corporate and consumer spending. Amazon expects second-quarter net sales to grow between 5% and 10% from the same period the year before, or be between $127 billion and $133 billion. “The results indicate that ongoing cost-cutting measures are having a positive impact on Amazon’s business prospects,” said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com.

☆ Amazon is spending less on warehouses — and more on AI and its cloud business
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon signaled its commitment to AI investment amid a surge of interest in the technology. Amazon plans to build "the world's best personal assistant," CEO Andy Jassy told analysts Thursday. "And we are adding more dollars for large language models and generative AI." Amazon CEO Andy Jassy echoed the company's commitment to AI, saying the e-commerce giant would be among the few companies to prioritize developing large language models, the technology behind generative AI tools like chatbots. "If you look at the really significant leading large language models, they take many years to build, and many billions of dollars to build," he told analysts Thursday.

Amazon is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings after market close Thursday. Last quarter, Amazon Web Services missed estimates, growing 20% in the period, down from 27.5% in the third quarter. They said AWS growth is likely to come in at 13% in the first quarter. Amazon is also contending with decelerating growth in its core retail segment. Even amid the cost cuts, Jassy said Amazon is investing in areas like grocery, health care, its Kuiper internet satellite service and generative artificial intelligence.

☆ Internal email shows Amazon has started laying off cloud employees as part of its plan to cut 9,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon Web Services began laying off cloud employees on Monday, an internal email shows. The cloud unit's professional services team, ProServe, is one of the units being cut, two people said. Amazon Web Services began laying off employees on Monday as part of Amazon's plan to trim 9,000 jobs across the company, according to an internal email viewed by Insider. I wanted to let you know that conversations with impacted AWS employees started today, with notification messages sent to all impacted employees in the U.S., Canada, and Costa Rica. In other regions, we are following local processes, which may include time for consultation with employee representative bodies and possibly result in longer timelines to communicate with impacted employees.

☆ At Microsoft, Charlie Bell's shackles are finally off. Watch out, Amazon.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Many in the industry, including current and former Microsoft and Amazon executives, wonder whether there's a better job for Bell. It could get intense, with Bell going toe-to-toe with Jassy and getting into disputes with Selipsky. "There were two different sets of security products and actually different security organizations that were securing the products for Microsoft," Bell said. While Bell has imported some processes from Amazon, he has introduced them with a "Microsoft flavor," by using Microsoft productivity tools, one person said. "So many decisions get made at Microsoft by looking at PowerPoints, and sometimes those PowerPoints lack details," Rashid, the former Microsoft and Amazon executive, said.

☆ Microsoft's bet on AI is still in its early days. But there are signs it's already paying off.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI has lead to a new wave of innovation in artificial intelligence. There are already early signs that the Microsoft-OpenAI partnership is paying off, analysts say. Analysts say there is still work to be done, but "Microsoft is leading this tech AI arms race." Wall Street analysts took that as a sign that Microsoft's big bet on AI is already leading to financial gains. Ultimately, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said, "the AI story is still in the first inning," but, he said, "Microsoft is leading this tech AI arms race."

☆ Here’s our April rapid-fire update on the stocks in Cramer’s Charitable Trust
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

When AMD reports earnings next week, we'll be looking for signs that its integration of Xilinx has proven a success. Amazon (AMZN): Investors will be looking closely at profit margins and the growth rate at cloud unit Amazon Web Services when the company reports earnings after the closing bell Thursday. After a disappointing fourth-quarter print, we're hoping to see evidence that CEO Jim Farley has righted the ship. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Charlie Bell speaks, Amazon RTO, and the lucrative side of teaching ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon needs to watch out for Charlie Bell. A founder of Amazon Web Services and the firm's "best person in the room," Bell shook the industry last September when he joined Microsoft. Bell will be overseeing a new cybersecurity division at Microsoft — but insiders at both Amazon and Microsoft wonder if he'll go more directly up against his former employer. My colleague Ashley Stewart examines the growing threat of Microsoft now that Bell is free from his noncompete purgatory. Look into the future here for Bell — and Microsoft — without Amazon's restrictions.

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