Amazon tops cloud expectations on strong AI demand, shares rise

Amazon.com on Wednesday reported cloud sales growth above Wall Street expectations, driven by strong enterprise spending as companies continue to devote tremendous resources to their artificial intelligence efforts.

CEO Andy Jassy said the company was maintaining its target for $200 billion in AI investment this year, a relief to investors who have seen Big Tech relentlessly hike capital spending forecasts into the hundreds of billions in the rush to build out data-center capacity needed for AI workloads. Shares rose nearly 4% in volatile after-hours action.