Google accredits strong Q2 growth to AI and cloud

Alphabet reported a revenue rise of 19 percent in the week the US government confirmed a competition probe

Google’s parent company reported a healthy rise in revenue as the technology giant published its latest financial results.

Despite being part of a new US Department of Justice antitrust investigation over concerns about the dominance of big tech firms, Alphabet reported a revenue increase of 19 percent on this time last year.

The firm’s total revenue for the last quarter was 38.9 billion US dollars (£31.2 billion), up from 32.7 billion (£26.2 billion) in the same period of 2018.

Net income also rose substantially to 9.9 billion US dollars (£7.9 billion) from 3.2 billion (£2.6 billion) a year ago.

Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, said the internet giant’s traditional services and new technology such as artificial intelligence are fuelling the growth.

“Our effort to build a more helpful Google for everyone brings countless opportunities to help users, partners and enterprise customers every day,” he said.

“From improvements in core information products such as Search, Maps and the Google Assistant, to new breakthroughs in AI and our growing cloud and hardware offerings, I’m incredibly excited by the momentum across Google’s businesses and the innovation that is fuelling our growth.”

But having been the subject of three antitrust fines in Europe in the last three years, Google now faces similar scrutiny in the US following the Department of Justice’s announcement of a new investigation into digital platforms.

The department said it will look into “widespread concerns” that big tech firms such as Google have stifled innovation and competition through their market dominance.