AI Daily: Amazon says AI biz growing triple digit percentages year-over-year

Catch up on the top artificial intelligence news and commentary by Wall Street analysts on publicly traded companies in the space with this daily recap compiled by The Fly:

AMAZON REPORTS EARNINGS: Amazon (AMZN) reported Q1 EPS of $1.59 and Q1 revenue of $155.7B, with consensus at $1.37 and $155.13B, respectively. Andy Jassy, President and CEO, Amazon, said, “We’re pleased with the start to 2025, especially our pace of innovation and progress in continuing to improve customer experiences,” said Andy Jassy, President and CEO, Amazon.

“From Alexa+ (our next generation of Alexa that’s meaningfully smarter, more capable, and takes actions for customers), to another delivery speed record for our Prime members, to our new Trainium2 chips and Bedrock model expansion that make it easier for AWS customers to train models and run inference more flexibly and cost-effectively, to our first Project Kuiper satellites successfully launching into low earth orbit in our quest to provide broadband access to hundreds of millions of households in rural areas without it today-we’re continuing to find meaningful ways to make customers’ lives easier and better every day.”

Amazon also said it sees Q2 revenue between $159B-$164B, with consensus at $161.06B, and that Q2 net sales are expected to be between $159.0B and $164.0B, or to grow between 7% and 11% compared with second quarter 2024. “This guidance anticipates an unfavorable impact of approximately 10 basis points from foreign exchange rates,” the company stated. Operating income is expected to be between $13.0B and $17.5B, compared with $14.7B in second quarter 2024. “This guidance assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions, restructurings, or legal settlements are concluded,” the company added.

Additionally, Amazon said its AI business is growing triple digit percentages year-over-year, and that it could grow even more with additional capacity. The e-commerce giant expects supply chain, capacity issues to improve throughout the year.

AI-ASSISTED CODING SERVICE: Amazon Web Services is developing its own AI-assisted coding service that offers features similar to those of Anyspher’s Cursor, The Information’s Kevin McLaughlin reports. AI-assisted coding startups are hot in Silicon Valley right now, drawing attention from major AI players including Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI, the author notes.

TELLING TALL TALES: Nvidia (NVDA) says Amazon-backed Anthropic is telling “tall tales” after the startup argued for tighter export controls by saying China is smuggling chips in “prosthetic baby bumps” and “packed alongside live lobsters,” CNBC’s Kristina Partsinevelos reports. Nvidia and Anthropic are split on artificial intelligence policy with U.S. chip export restrictions set to take effect, with Anthropic arguing for tighter controls and enforcement, and a spokesperson for Nvidia saying “American firms should focus on innovation and rise to the challenge, rather than tell tall tales that large, heavy, and sensitive electronics are somehow smuggled in ‘baby bumps’ or ‘alongside live lobsters.'”