AI Turns Google Cloud Into Alphabet’s Rising Star
GeokHub
Contributing Writer
Google Cloud, once considered a lagging arm of Alphabet, has flipped the narrative. Big bets on artificial intelligence, custom hardware, and cloud infrastructure have transformed it into one of the company’s fastest-growing divisions. In the third quarter, Google Cloud revenues crossed $15 billion, soaring by 34% year over year—and challenging YouTube for the title of Alphabet’s second-largest cash engine.
The turnaround can be traced back to Thomas Kurian, who took over in 2018. Under his leadership, Google Cloud’s market share has climbed from about 7% to 13% today. Kurian revamped sales strategies, tightened internal discipline, and pushed integration of Google’s proprietary TPU chips into the cloud offering—moves that helped the business renegotiate its identity within Alphabet.
Executives say the shift in mindset matters as much as the tech. Once overshadowed by search and advertising, Google Cloud now commands more attention, power, and resources in boardroom decisions. CEO Sundar Pichai has made it a core bet alongside YouTube for the company’s future growth.
The AI opportunity isn’t just ambition; it’s necessity. As demand for generative models soared, enterprises turned to cloud providers for compute, storage, and orchestration. Google Cloud has become a credible alternative to Azure and AWS, offering integrated stacks that include model serving and TPU access.
That ambition comes with a price. Alphabet now plans $90–$93 billion in capital spending for 2025, much of it to expand cloud infrastructure. Executives expect this level of investment to continue as Google Cloud scales up to meet rising demand.
