A.I. Investments Carry Amazon Over $2 Trillion Valuation Threshold
By The Associated Press
FILE - An Amazon Prime truck is seen on April 5, 2024, in Portland, Ore. Amazon hits a stock market valuation of $2 trillion for the first time on Wednesday, June 26, 2024.(AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday.
The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia's chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result.
Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products, including AI models and a chatbot called Q, which Amazon makes available to businesses that use its cloud computing unit AWS.
In April, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that AI capabilities have reaccelerated AWS’ growth and that it was on pace for $100 billion in annual revenue. The unit had slowed down in growth last year as companies cut down on costs amid high inflation.
The tech giant has also invested $4 billion in the San Francisco-based AI company Anthropic to develop so-called foundation models that underpin the generative AI systems. Amazon also makes and designs its own AI chips.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
Universal Music Group and AI platform Udio have settled a copyright lawsuit and will collaborate on a new music creation and streaming platform. The companies announced on Wednesday that they reached a compensatory legal settlement and new licensing agreements. These agreements aim to provide more revenue opportunities for Universal's artists and songwriters. The rise of AI song generation tools like Udio has disrupted the music streaming industry, leading to accusations from record labels. This deal marks the first since Universal and others sued Udio and Suno last year. Financial terms of the settlement weren't disclosed.