How Meta, Apple, Amazon & Microsoft Profit From AI While Trump Tariffs Disrupt Trade
Meta, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft are each leveraging AI differently. But they share a common goal: integrating AI deeply into their ecosystems to future-proof their businesses
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rewriting the rules of business, and Big Tech is all in. As the world's largest technology firms double down on AI innovation and deployment, their earnings reflect a stunning transformation in both capability and strategy. Meta, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft—collectively holding trillions in market value — have made AI not just a buzzword, but a profit engine.
At the same time, the global economy is entering yet another phase of volatility. With US President Donald Trump's tariff threats, protectionist policies, and global trade disruptions, investors are hedging, central banks are cautious, and industries relying on stable supply chains are bracing for impact.
Yet amid all the noise, tech's AI champions are thriving. Here's how.
The AI Gold Rush—And Who Is Winning
The four tech giants—Meta, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft— are each leveraging AI differently. But they share a common goal: integrating AI deeply into their ecosystems to improve efficiency, increase monetisation, and future-proof their core businesses.
Microsoft: The Infrastructure King
In its Q2 2025 earnings, Microsoft reported a 19% increase in cloud revenue, with CEO Satya Nadella citing AI workloads as a primary driver. 'Every customer I speak with wants to adopt AI for productivity, security, and innovation," Nadella said on the earnings call.
Azure's ability to host large language models, both proprietary and open-source, has made it the go-to platform for enterprise AI. Additionally, Microsoft's integration of AI into Teams, Word, and Excel via Copilot is redefining workplace productivity.
Meta: AI As An Attention Engine
Meta, once mocked for its metaverse pivot, has rebounded by steering into AI with surprising agility. Its open-source LLaMA models have been widely adopted by researchers and developers, giving Meta outsized influence in the open AI ecosystem.
But the real monetisation is happening in advertising. Meta's AI models are now deeply embedded in ad targeting and content recommendations across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
According to Q2 results, AI-driven ad optimisation contributed to a 25% year-over-year growth in ad revenue—a massive leap in a sector once believed to be stagnating.
'We've had a strong quarter both in terms of our business and community," said CEO Mark Zuckerberg. 'I'm excited to build personal superintelligence for everyone in the world."
On the consumer front, Meta AI (its assistant) has been rolled out across platforms and even into Ray-Ban smart glasses, further blending AI into daily life.
Amazon: Retail, Cloud, and Alexa 2.0
For Amazon, AI plays a dual role—supercharging logistics and defending its cloud dominance. The company reported a 35% jump in quarterly profits as the e-commerce giant said major investments in AI technology are paying off.
AWS, Amazon's cloud arm, remains a major profit engine, and its AI services are a growing part of that. From generative AI services for developers to Titan foundation models, Amazon is targeting enterprises that want flexibility without being locked into Microsoft or Google ecosystems.
Meanwhile, in e-commerce, AI is streamlining fulfilment, optimising supply chains, and enabling hyper-personalized shopping experiences. Amazon's new-gen Alexa, powered by LLMs, is expected to play a bigger role in smart homes and commerce, though competition remains stiff.
As per an AFP report, Amazon's net sales climbed 13%, signalling that the company has so far survived the impacts of Trump's trade policy. AWS led the charge with sales jumping 17.5% to $30.9 billion.
Its strong performance reflects surging demand for cloud infrastructure to power AI applications, a trend that has benefited major cloud providers as companies race to adopt generative AI technologies.
Apple: Playing The Long Game—Quietly
Apple, traditionally more cautious about jumping on technology bandwagons, is finally stepping into AI visibly. At WWDC 2025, Apple Intelligence was unveiled—an ecosystem-wide integration of generative AI across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Unlike its peers, Apple is not building chatbot-like assistants. Instead, it focuses on user-controlled, privacy-conscious AI features like Smart Recap, Writing Tools, and Genmoji. Much of the processing is done on-device or through Apple's private cloud.
More importantly, Apple announced partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic to offer choice in assistant models, a significant shift from its usually walled-garden approach.
In fact, Apple beat expectations with earnings driven by strong iPhone sales despite US tariffs costing the company $800 million in the recently-ended quarter. It expects Trump's tariffs to cost the iPhone maker $1.1 billion in the current quarter.
Apple's strategy is designed to boost hardware stickiness. iPhone 17 sales spiked 8% post-launch, in part due to AI feature demand.
Why The Economic Anxiety Despite AI Boom
Trump's Tariffs Shock The World Economy
Since taking office in January , Trump has rolled out sweeping tariffs aimed at reducing the US trade deficit and boosting domestic manufacturing. These include a 10% universal tariff on all imports, with higher rates targeting key trading partners: 145% on China, 34% on Taiwan, 26% on India, 25% on Canada and Mexico, and 50% on Brazil, alongside 100% secondary tariffs on countries buying Russian energy.
The US Treasury reported $87 billion in tariff revenue through June, with $26.6 billion collected in June alone, reflecting the scale of this policy shift. However, these tariffs have triggered retaliatory measures—Canada's $12 billion, China's $50 billion, and the EU's $100 billion—disrupting $330 billion in US exports and raising consumer prices by 3–5% for goods like clothing and appliances. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects a 0.5% global GDP decline by 2027, with emerging markets like India facing export losses of 2-3%.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped 6% and 16% respectively since January, with Apple, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft losing significant market value. Yet, these firms are leveraging AI to offset these challenges, driving innovation and revenue in a volatile economic landscape.
Supply Chains Under Pressure
For tech companies, these tariffs threaten supply chains and data centre costs, critical for AI development. Hardware from China and Taiwan, including semiconductors and circuit boards, faces steep duties, potentially increasing data centre construction costs.
Apple, for instance, remains heavily reliant on China and Taiwan for iPhone production. Tariffs or sanctions could increase costs or delay shipments. Microsoft's hardware and Amazon's device arms (Kindle, Echo, Fire) also face potential headwinds if tariffs hit Asian manufacturing.
Tariffs could delay projects like Stargate, a $500 billion AI data centre venture involving Oracle and SoftBank, by increasing hardware costs. The tech sector's reliance on global supply chains makes it vulnerable, with Nvidia, AMD, and TSMC stocks falling 7–10% after tariff announcements.
AI As A Hedge
Paradoxically, AI is emerging as a hedge against economic volatility. While traditional sectors brace for tariffs and geopolitical shockwaves, AI-driven efficiencies can lower costs, automate labour, and unlock new revenue streams.
Moreover, much of AI development is digital and cloud-based, less affected by physical trade barriers. For companies like Meta and Microsoft, whose revenues rely more on software and services than physical goods, tariffs may have a limited direct impact.
What Lies Ahead?
Even as the global economy reels from uncertainty around trade, inflation, and leadership transitions, the AI race continues at full throttle. Meta, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft are not just adapting—they are thriving by embedding AI across every layer of their businesses.
If tariffs escalate under Trump's administration or other nationalist movements worldwide, tech giants may face higher hardware costs and supply chain headaches. But their deep investment in AI—especially in cloud, enterprise tools, and digital services—positions them to weather the storm better than most industries.
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Shilpy Bisht
Shilpy Bisht, Deputy News Editor at News18, writes and edits national, world and business stories. She started off as a print journalist, and then transitioned to online, in her 12 years of experience. Her prev...Read More
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August 04, 2025, 11:28 IST
News tech How Meta, Apple, Amazon & Microsoft Profit From AI While Trump Tariffs Disrupt Trade
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