Alphabet shares Q2 shares sink despite revenue and earnings beat
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Tom's Guide
8 minutes ago
- Tom's Guide
The iPhone Fold doesn't need to be groundbreaking to beat every other foldable phone — it just needs to work
Earlier this week, we heard news that the iPhone Fold likely won't be some kind of groundbreaking, super-innovative phone. According to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, the first generation Apple foldable isn't likely to have a "radically new interface or transformative hardware." While some may be disappointed by that report after hoping for a foldable iPhone that isn't like every other foldable device on the market, I'm not so worried. The iPhone Fold doesn't have to be a groundbreaking, segment-defining device. It just needs to work if it wants to avoid being a colossal failure. The major selling point for the iPhone Fold is always going to be the fact it is a foldable iPhone. Foldables are nothing new, with the first one released around seven years ago. But up until now, they've been purely an Android affair. It doesn't matter which of the best foldable phones you buy, be it a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, Motorola Razr or one of the many options from phone makers based in China: they all have that shared reliance on Google mobile OS. The iPhone Fold will be the first device to offer an alternative, bringing the foldable experience to those people who don't want to migrate away from Apple's walled garden. There are plenty of people out there who will never entertain the idea of buying something other than an iPhone. For whatever reason, they're steadfast and loyal to Apple, and any device that does not run iOS is not going to appeal to them. The mere existence of a foldable iPhone would be a big deal for loyal Apple customers. So the mere existence of a foldable iPhone would be a big deal for that group. It's a chance for them to pick up a phone that's more than a rectangular slab of metal and glass — while still maintaining the Apple experience they're familiar with. Plus an iPhone Fold, with its larger internal screen, will be able to capitalize on Apple's extensive experience optimizing its software for larger screens. Sure, iPadOS is technically its own thing now, but the iPad software is not that different from the iPhone version. And, let's be honest, Android tablets are not in the same league as iPads. I'm a diehard Android loyalist, but even I use an iPad for big-screen activities. it's nice to be able to use a huge range of large-screen apps that have actually been built for that bigger work space, as opposed to stretched-out phone apps. To top it off, even those people who hadn't considered a foldable before may find themselves intrigued by the prospect of the iPhone Fold — simply because Apple is building one now. Whether you like the company or not, there's no denying the fact that Apple has some incredible sway with consumers. So if anyone can help foldable phones gain a greater foothold in the smartphone market — even if it's just by capitalizing on the novelty of a folding phone — it's Apple. Of course all of this hinges on Apple actually getting the iPhone Fold right, and not screwing everything up so much that Apple fans lose faith in the idea of using a foldable phone. In other words, Apple needs to make sure that the eventual iPhone Fold launch is pulled off without a hitch. That means no major blunders, like the ones that forced Samsung to delay the launch of the original Galaxy Fold at the last minute all those years ago. While I've criticized Apple for seemingly being too cautious with its approach to the iPhone Fold, there is a lot riding on the launch. I do still think Apple is a little too focussed on perfectionism, and chasing the impossible goal of a flawless first-generation device, but getting things wrong could kill any chance of Apple gaining a solid foothold in the foldable market. That's especially true, considering a foldable iPhone could cost somewhere around $2,000 if you believe some rumors. The high price was a big part of why the Apple Vision Pro sold so poorly, despite all the positive buzz and reception. So if Apple wants any hope of making the iPhone Fold a success, it does need to offer something solid and reliable. With that in mind, it makes sense that the phone isn't likely to offer any serious innovations. Change is inherently risky, and with so much riding on the success of the iPhone Fold, sticking with tried and tested technology is arguably the best way to go — even if it makes the phone seem derivative in comparison to other foldables. The iPhone Fold isn't expected to arrive for more than a year, and our overall picture of the phone is going to change in that time. That said, I feel like Apple is doing the right thing by not trying to make this the best and flashiest foldable phone ever created. That strategy may help drum up hype, but hype is fleeting. It's the quality of the product that matters most. But once Apple has cleared that particular hurdle and released a foldable phone that (presumably) isn't a total mess, it opens the door for better possibilities. That early first experience is vital in helping the company figure out what's going on, and how they can experiment with future phones. So there's room for Apple to push the envelope with future iterations of the iPhone Fold. But for now? Time to dust off the old marketing slogan and make sure that it just works.
CNBC
9 minutes ago
- CNBC
TikTok took the world by storm. Now, Chinese companies are taking videos further with AI
BEIJING — China's video-heavy entertainment world has yielded a trove of data for companies — and they're now ramping up money-making artificial intelligence tools for generating ads and film clips. TikTok parent ByteDance holds the first and third spots in research firm Artificial Analysis' top-ranked text-to-video generative AI models, which were launched in the last two months. Google holds the second and fourth spots, while Beijing-based short video app Kuaishou's Kling AI ranks fifth. Despite some consolidation in other parts of the AI industry, "competition in AI video generation models is at an earlier stage, and some Chinese companies have emerged as early leaders in this space," said Wei Xiong, China internet analyst at UBS Securities. "We believe AI video generation has the potential to reshape the content industry," she said, "by enhancing production efficiency, lowering barriers to creation and unlocking new monetization models." With such AI tools, users can upload a single image or multiple ones, and direct the AI to generate a video clip based on them. Other tools allow users to enter text, from which the AI will generate the video clip. More than 20,000 businesses from advertisers to movie animators already use Kling AI for generating video, the Beijing-based company claimed this week during the World AI Conference in Shanghai. The latest version, Kling 2.1, can automatically add relevant sound effects to match the AI-generated video. It's not just for users in China. "Whether it's user scale or commercial revenue, overseas accounts for the majority," Zeng Yushen, head of operations at Kling AI, told CNBC in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. She said the company plans to enhance its support for the tool in places such as Japan, South Korea and Europe. "This is something we've observed, AI big models are increasingly globalized," she said. "People don't seem to care which country's product it is." Kuaishou claimed Kling AI made over 150 million yuan ($20.83 million) in revenue in the first three months of the year, and that daily advertising spend on generative AI tools was 30 million yuan during that time. The company has yet to announce when it will release second-quarter results. Zeng declined to share Kling AI's model training costs. While the reduced production cost implies a "sizeable" market, UBS' Xiong said, "current model capabilities remain constrained by clip length, motion consistency and controllability." Chinese video AI companies also face competition from the U.S., beyond the Trump administration's restrictions on China's access to advanced semiconductors needed for training AI models. Amazon and Google have launched tools for generating video from images or text. The releases come as Microsoft-backed OpenAI launched its video generation model Sora to ChatGPT subscribers in December — nearly a year after it had revealed its capabilities in February 2024. However, Kling AI had already launched to the public in June 2024. Users subscribe and buy credits to generate videos. Vidu, a rival tool from Beijing-based startup Shengshu, launched to global users roughly 12 months ago, and around March this year said it expected annual revenue of $20 million based on user subscription fees. "Chinese firms tend to attempt to first identify a commercial 'pain point' ..., areas where companies will pay for services, which has been a challenge for AI applications," said Paul Triolo, partner and senior vice president for China at advisory firm DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group. He pointed to how Chinese startup 3DStyle uses generative AI to design new clothing styles and integrate them with internet-connected, automated manufacturing. U.S. companies have also been applying AI to specific industries, Triolo said, but Chinese businesses are often able to integrate AI more quickly because they face a very competitive environment and can recruit from a "very qualified" local base of software engineers. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has also stayed on top of the trend by releasing the latest version of its video generation AI model this week called Wan2.2. The company claimed that with the open-source model, users can control lighting, time of day, color tone, camera angle, frame size, composition and focal length. Open source allows users to download a model for free, and customize, if not commercialize, products with it. Alibaba claimed that since open sourcing the "Wan" model series in February, the models have been downloaded more than 5.4 million times from the Hugging Face platform and a similar one in China called ModelScope. "The age of AI in film is over. We've entered the age of AI as filmmaker," said Winston Ma, adjunct professor at NYU School of Law. He pointed out that China's 1.4 billion population has given local companies "enormous" amounts of video-watching data to work with. "Just like TikTok took the global markets by storm with short videos in the mobile internet age, Chinese AI companies could well lead the Generative AI revolution in visual digital entertainment," said Ma, author of "The Digital War: How China's Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace." Chinese companies are also building AI tools for more than just generating videos. In the past week, Baidu announced that its newest AI-powered digital human technology — which powered sales of $7.65 million during an interactive livestreaming session of over six hours in June — would be released for broader industry use in October. In 3D visualization, Tencent released its Hunyuan World model for creating digital panoramic images of scenes, generated from text and visual prompts. The visuals use a "mesh" file format which gamer developers can then use to edit specific parts of the image. "Beyond supporting [Tencent's] internal development teams, the platform demonstrates Tencent's ambition to standardize high-fidelity game asset generation and expand its influence across China's game development landscape," said Daniel Ahmad, director of research and insights at Niko Partners. Niko found that more than half of game development studios in China already use AI for content generation and reducing development time and costs. But game development reflects broader challenges in using AI at scale for generating videos and graphics. "While interest in AI is high," Ahmad said, "we've already seen some backlash to games that have poorly implemented the technology."
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) Has To Raise CapEx, Says Jim Cramer
We recently published . Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), the world's largest eCommerce company, has seen its shares gain 5% year-to-date. Cramer's previous remarks about the firm have posited that its Alexa Plus AI will be better than its predecessors. The CNBC TV host has also maintained that, based on his conversations with CEO Andy Jassy, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is not raising prices amidst the ongoing tariff turmoil. This time, he answered a question about whether the firm would increase capital expenditure once again: 'They have to because it turns out that what is needed is speed. That's why by the way Jensen likes quantum. What's needed is speed. And Carl, I go on all these all the time, and some of them are just so eager to please, they'll say, I'll say tell me how about that is quarter was, and they'll like define how bad this is. I think a lot of this is, they don't have the ability to be able to scrub as much as they like. And that's the weakness with these systems. You need to go faster. If they go faster, they can include more. They need to make more deals. They just, they scrape the wrong stuff. Scrape The Journal. Jesus, scrape The Times.' Here's what Cramer previously said about Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN): 'After the close, Thursday, we have two more members of the Magnificent Seven when Apple and Amazon report. Now both stocks have been going up steadily. They could be, well, look, it could be like Alphabet, which rallied consistently into the marvelous print, then kept going up… Copyright: buchachon / 123RF Stock Photo How about Amazon? I'm a huge believer that, like Google, Amazon has a lot of things working for it, the online store, the web services business, advertising, hey, you know what, Alexa+. It's been a long time since Amazon's stock exploded higher on earnings, but it's also been a long time since the company had something exciting to say. I expect a very solid quarter.' While we acknowledge the potential of AMZN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
