Alphabet's Google Cloud division has posted a dramatic surge in earnings, with the company now describing it as the group's fastest-growing business. The unit, once seen as a distant third-place player behind Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, has become a major driver of Alphabet's overall performance, contributing more than a fifth of both revenue and operating profit for the quarter.

According to Alphabet's second-quarter results, published on Wednesday, Google Cloud revenue rose 82 per cent year-on-year, from $13.6 billion to $24.8 billion, while operating income more than tripled, climbing from $2.8 billion to $8.8 billion. The division now accounts for 21 per cent of Alphabet's revenues and 22 per cent of its operating income. Google attributes the growth to demand for AI infrastructure and services, though The Register notes this is hard to verify given the division's broader range of offerings, and suggests aggressive marketing of its Gemini AI model may also be a factor, even as rivals such as Anthropic's Claude remain many enterprises' preferred model.