By Alex Sirois
Publication Date: 2026-10-16 16:45:00
Alphabet is growing its cloud faster, but Microsoft is funding its AI buildout from its own cash while Alphabet sells stock to keep pace. The race to $5 trillion turns on which strategy survives contact with a $175 billion spending…
Two giants, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), have market values of about $4.25T and $4.01T. Their July earnings reports show both racing toward $5 trillion on demand for AI cloud services. Both posted record cloud growth. Both are also spending at a rate that changes how each business makes cash.
Google Cloud Sprints While Azure Runs Out of Room
Alphabet’s Q2 revenue rose 24.2% to $119.80 billion. Google Cloud led the way with $24.77 billion, up 82%, which is startup-like growth for a unit that size. Sundar Pichai credited “demand for AI infrastructure and AI solutions.” Search and other revenue grew 17% to $63.27 billion.
Microsoft’s fiscal Q4 revenue reached $90.01 billion. Azure grew 43% and…
