Here are the takeaways from today's Morning Brief. sign up Every morning you will receive the following message in your inbox:
This week, investors experienced two different versions of artificial intelligence. And both sound pretty good.
Microsoft (MSFT) announced a partnership with Coca-Cola (KO). The partnership will see the soft drink magnate pay him $1.1 billion to “jointly experiment” with a new Azure AI-based version of Microsoft's cloud-based productivity software suite.
And the stock rose 2% on Friday after Microsoft's quarterly results showed that AI is increasingly driving growth in its cloud business and bullish guidance from a committed management team.
Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) told a similar story, but was up 10% on Friday, with an even stronger investor reaction as investors reconsidered the company's No. 2 position behind Microsoft. Today, YouTube, search, and cloud businesses appear to be well-prepared for AI.
On the other side of the table, Tesla (TSLA) announced its earnings results. The company has the ultimate goal of fully self-driving cars, a robotaxi fleet, licensing its self-driving technology to other automakers (which Elon Musk says is in talks), and AI computing for parked Teslas. It doubled the possibility of creating something by utilizing one's abilities. Similar to Amazon's AWS, it's a bold but old idea that's been around since the 1980s.
These are two very different visions of the future of AI. “Productivity software” certainly doesn't have the same ring to it as “robotaxis.” This is on the funny end of Peter Thiel's “We wanted flying cars, but instead we got 140 characters” spectrum that we discussed two weeks ago.
But as this week's chart shows, investors liked both.
And you should. Tesla's surge was aimed, in part, at rebutting investors' reasonable concerns: cost cuts to address lagging demand and reassurance that cheaper EVs are on the way. . But the bigger story was the vision of self-driving AI by some grand visionary.
This is rare, and that's why some people love Elon. In most cases, the AI ​​path first passes through the boring corporate world of programmatic advertising and productivity tools, the core business of today's major AI software/cloud players (Google, Microsoft, Meta).
On the other hand, the flashy self-driving future of Tesla's consumer cars and robotaxis is more likely to be a “world-changing” promise by Big Tech than the “better Office 365” reality we often see. wishes) are much more in line with
But these more mundane improvements are what it's all about. It's important to remember the lessons that America's inner cities can teach us. America's tons of wealthy people simply took the pragmatic route, embracing less glamorous businesses like fast food franchise operations, agricultural processing, waste management, car dealerships, and commercial real estate. As for all her other B2B matters, you'll never think twice. For every Zuckerberg, there are thousands of Buddy Garrities.
But as our own Hamza Shaban says, Zuckerberg may have gone too far with the mundane during Meta's earnings call on Wednesday, making his AI aspirations “look small.” The company talked about “expanding business messaging,” “improving ad insertion,” and selling AI computing power.
And, as I wrote in March, breaking down productivity barriers has huge implications for the economy. But you still have to sell it. After all, they are still “productivity enhancements”, not flying cars.
ethan wolfman He is a senior editor at Yahoo Finance and runs the newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann.
Click here for the latest earnings report and analysis, earnings whispers and expectations, and company earnings news.
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance