Alphabet's AI spending plans clash with moderating search revenue growth

Alphabet reported that while search queries are expanding at their quickest pace in five years, the company's revenue growth from Search slowed in the third quarter. Specifically, year-over-year growth in Search revenue dropped to 12 percent, compared to approximately 17 percent in the preceding quarter. Furthermore, the rate of growth for paid clicks, which drive revenue for Google, decelerated from 13 percent to 8 percent. These figures disappointed investors, particularly given Alphabet's substantial planned investment. The company intends to allocate roughly $200 billion this year toward infrastructure, largely to bolster its artificial intelligence initiatives. Following the earnings report, Alphabet's stock experienced a decline of about 14 percent.