Google’s AI push drives big profits amid rising costs and legal issues

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Google is going all-in on AI, and it’s paying off. In its latest earnings report for the second quarter of 2025, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, reported strong financial results, thanks in large part to its AI efforts. 

CEO Sundar Pichai said that AI is helping every part of the business. Features like AI Overviews (which summarize search results) and AI Mode (a new AI-driven interface) are doing well with users.

Alphabet made $96.4 billion in revenue, a 14% increase from last year. Over half of that, $54.1 billion, came from Google Search alone. 

The company is also planning to spend even more on expanding its AI capabilities, bumping up its capital investment plans for the year to $85 billion. 

That extra spending will go toward building more data centers and buying more servers to meet growing demand for cloud services.

AI Mode now has over 100 million monthly users in the US and India, while AI Overviews serves more than 2 billion users monthly across 200 countries and 40 languages. 

These tools are making users search more, especially younger ones, because they’re seeing that AI can help answer more complex or specific questions. 

Meanwhile, Google’s AI chatbot app, Gemini, has hit 450 million monthly users, with usage jumping 50% from the previous quarter.

During the quarter, Google also hosted its big I/O developer event, where it unveiled major AI updates, like AI-generated video and images, smarter Gmail replies, and deeper integration of Gemini AI into Chrome. 

However, not everyone is happy: some news outlets have accused Google of stealing content through its AI-generated search summaries.

While celebrating growth, Google is also facing legal challenges. 

The US Department of Justice recently ruled that Google is a monopoly, and possible outcomes could include breaking up parts of the company. 

Many companies are eyeing products like Chrome if that happens.

Google even gave its well-known “G” logo a fresh new look, the first change in nearly ten years.

Do you think Google’s massive AI investments and growth justify concerns about its monopoly power? Or should regulators focus on breaking up the company regardless of its innovation success? Tell us below in the comments, or reach us via our Twitter or Facebook.