The news: Alphabet’s Q3 earnings exceeded expectations and were driven by Google Cloud’s 35% YoY revenue growth to $11.4 billion, highlighting returns on AI investments and AI’s increasing role in Google’s operations.

Google Cloud revenue and AI-enhanced advertising growth reveal that AI is the key strategy that sustains Google’s trajectory despite regulatory headwinds. Here are some important AI-related takeaways.

AI mentions: Big Tech’s AI mentions in earnings calls have spiked over the past two years. AI was mentioned 111 times during Alphabet’s Q3 2024 earnings call, compared with 87 mentions in the Q3 2023 call.