Amazon’s cloud business faces test after Microsoft, Google struggles

The pressure is on Amazon.com to deliver on lofty expectations for cloud computing in its fourth-quarter results on Thursday, after Microsoft and Google’s lackluster reports jolted investor faith in Big Tech’s billion-dollar investments in AI.

Shares of major tech companies surged in the past two years on the belief that massive datacenter needs for artificial-intelligence technologies would power investment for years.

But that was before Chinese startup DeepSeek said it had achieved AI breakthroughs at a fraction of the cost, precipitating a selloff in technology stocks that some say was overdue.