Google Cloud hit $8.4 billion with 23 percent growth, while ad sales shot up 18 percent, nearly reaching $60 billion in revenue. Parent company Alphabet had a great quarter overall, with revenue and income jumping 11 percent to $76.7 billion and 25 percent to $21.3 billion, respectively. That matters to everyone who relies on these platforms, including fashion, for which the most important takeaway may be this: The race for AI, which is already evident in ad products and a growing array of other tools, is only just getting started. Cue the mad race to catch up, with a furious array of launches and updates amid critical organizational changes. Companies like Google, Amazon and Meta - all of which have spent years touting significant chops in AI and machine learning - were seemingly caught off-guard as the AI explosion ignited over the past year. The broad brush strokes paint a portrait of a tech sector in flux, as it continues facing a new reality where merely dominating search, computer software, e-commerce, social media, mobile devices and more is no longer enough. Klarna Expands Retailer and Creator Tools
