Google profit jumps 30% to $34.5 billion on AI gains

Tech giant plans to double AI spending to $175-185 bn to build data centres

- TRIPP MICKLE

After early stumbles in artificial intelligence, Google's on a roll.

Its AI system, Gemini, has leapfrogged rivals. The technology has begun boosting YouTube viewership through its recommendations, and increasing search traffic by giving users concise answers.

Those businesses lifted sales at Alphabet, Google's parent company, to $113.8 billion in the quarter ending December, an 18 percent increase from the same period year ago. The company said its annual revenue last year eclipsed $400 billion for the first time, a milestone it now shares with Apple, which sells high-priced iPhones, and Amazon, which has a massive e-commerce business.

Profits in the final quarter of the year jumped 30 per cent to $34.5 billion.

The results exceeded Wall Street's expectations of quarterly sales of $111 billion and profit of $32 billion. Alphabet shares fell slightly in after-hours trading, largely holding its gains over the past three months when its market value rose more than $600 billion to $4.02 trillion.