MICHAEL LIEDTKE Technology Writer, Author at The Rapid City Post

Google’s quarterly results paint a picture of an internet powerhouse getting stronger in AI age

February 4, 2026

Google’s latest quarterly report provided further evidence that its internet empire is withstanding an artificial intelligence shakeup that’s turning into another potential boon for the company. The numbers released Wednesday marked the third consecutive quarter that Google has boosted its digital ad sales by more than 10% from the previous year while also posting revenue gains of more than 30% in its division that powers data centers for AI services. That growth during the October-December period propelled Google’s corporate parent Alphabet Inc. well past the earnings forecasts of stock market analysts.

FILE - Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at a Google I/O event in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Google offers users option to plug AI mode into their photos, email for more personalized answers

January 22, 2026

Google is leveraging its artificial intelligence technology to open a new peephole for its dominant search engine to tailor answers that draw upon people’s interests, habits, travel itineraries and photo libraries. The new option rolling out Thursday will give millions of people the option of turning a recently introduced tool called “Personal Intelligence” within the AI mode that has been available Google’s search engine since last year. The technology will be first offered in the U.S. to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers, as well as an option within its experimental Labs division for anyone with a personal Google account.

FILE - Tesla vehicles line a parking lot at the company's Fremont, Calif., factory on Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

California threatens Tesla with 30-day suspension of sales license for deceptive self-driving claims

December 17, 2025

California regulators are threatening to suspend Tesla’s license to sell its electric cars in the state early next year unless the automaker tones down its marketing tactics for its self-driving features after a judge concluded the Elon Musk-led company has been misleading consumers about the technology’s capabilities. The potential 30-day blackout of Tesla’s California sales is the primary punishment being recommended to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles in a decision that found the automaker had engaged in deceptive marketing practices by using the terms “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” to promote its autonomous technology. Tesla has 90 days to make amends and avoid the sales suspension.

Salesforce CEO vies to overcome investors’ AI skepticism while touting company’s quarterly numbers

December 3, 2025

After riding the artificial intelligence craze to new heights, business software maker Salesforce has been pummeled by a wave of investor skepticism that’s intensified the pressure on its persuasive CEO Marc Benioff to reverse the tide. Benioff got a chance to try to change the AI narrative late Wednesday with the release of his company’s latest quarterly results. The key numbers covering the August-October eclipsed the analyst projections that help steer the stock market, providing Benioff with some material to support his contention that Salesforce’s big bets on AI will yield a jackpot. Salesforce’s shares gained nearly 3% after the results came out, but it’s unclear if that momentum will continue Thursday.

FILE - People view a Zoox self-driving vehicle at the Zoox booth during the CES tech show, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, file)

Amazon’s Zoox robotaxis service to give free rides in San Francisco as its expansion accelerates

November 18, 2025

Amazon’s Zoox will start giving free robotaxi rides through parts of San Francisco as it accelerates its attempt to challenge Waymo’s early lead in the race to transport passengers cities in self-driving vehicles. The expansion announced Tuesday will be confined few major San Francisco neighborhoods and limited to people who signed up on a waiting list to ride in Zoox’s gondola-shaped robotaxis, which have no steering wheel. The San Francisco launch comes less than three months after the Amazon-owned robotaxi company launched its first ride-hailing service along the Las Vegas strip. Zoox still needs regulatory approval to charge for rides, as Waymo has been doing in San Francisco since 2023.

FILE - Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai speak at a Google I/O event in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Google unveils Gemini’s next generation, aiming to turn its search engine into a ‘thought partner’

November 18, 2025

Google is unleashing Gemini’s next generation of artificial intelligence in its dominant search engine and other popular online services in the high-stakes battle to create technology that people can trust to enlighten them and manage tedious tasks. The Gemini 3 model unveiled Tuesday comes nearly two years after Google took the wraps off the first iteration of the technology in response to a competitive threat posed by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google’s latest AI features initially will be rolled out to Gemini Pro and Ultra subscribers in the U.S. before coming to a wider audience around the world.

FILE - The iPhone 17 Pro is displayed during an announcement of new products at Apple Park on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)

Apple delivers strong quarter despite iPhone sales slowdown and ongoing artificial technology issues

October 30, 2025

Apple’s iPhone sales growth decelerated during its summertime quarter, but the company still delivered financial results that exceeded analyst projections while the trendsetting company continued to catch up to its Big Tech peers in the artificial intelligence race. The performance announced Thursday were driven largely by strong initial demand for the premium models of the iPhone 17 lineup that went on sale last month. Although iPhone sales rose by 6% from the same July-September period last year, the growth was slightly below analyst estimates and less than the pace from the prior quarter. But Apple’s profit and revenue still topped analyst forecasts and its stock surged 4% in extended trading.

Google’s corporate parent posts first-ever quarter with $100B in revenue in latest show of its power

October 29, 2025

Google’s corporate parent on Wednesday announced its first-ever quarter with more than $100 billion in revenue. The milestone illustrates the unwavering power of its internet empire amid legal and competitive threats. The news of Alphabet Inc.’s faster earnings growth comes on the heels of a court ruling in the U.S. Justice Department’s landmark monopoly case against Google’s dominant search engine that was widely seen as a mild rebuke. Alphabet’s powerhouse July-September period saw its profits and revenue exceeded analyst projections. The company’s shares rose more than 6% on the news.

Silicon Valley leader who navigated the internet’s boom and bust sees another wild ride with AI

October 3, 2025

Former Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers learned all about technology’s volatile highs and lows as a veteran of the internet’s early boom days during the late 1990s and the ensuing meltdown that followed the mania. And now he is seeing potential signs of the cycle repeating with another transformative technology in artificial intelligence. Chambers is trying take some of the lessons he learned while riding a wave that turned Cisco into the world’s most valuable company in 2000 before a crash hammered its stock price and apply them as an investor in AI startups. He recently discussed AI’s promise and perils during an interview with The Associated Press.

FILE - Visitors give commands to a robot at Nvidia's booth during the 3rd China International Supply Chain Expo at the China International Exhibition Center, in Beijing, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A., File)

Nvidia’s AI chip sales surged again in latest quarter, but worries about a tech bubble persist

August 27, 2025

Nvidia’s sales of its artificial intelligence chipsets rose at a slower pace than analysts anticipated during the company’s latest quarter, a letdown likely to stoke worries that technology’s latest craze has been fool’s gold. The results announced Wednesday were hotly anticipated because Nvidia has emerged as a bellwether of a two-year-old AI boom that has propelled the stock market to record heights. Although Nvidia’s second-quarter profit and total revenue were higher than analysts forecast, sales in the company division responsible for its AI chips were slightly below projections. Nvidia’s stock slid 3% in extended trading.

Trump thinks owning a piece of Intel would be a good deal for the US. Here’s what to know

August 20, 2025

President Donald Trump wants the U.S. government to own a piece of Intel, less than two weeks after demanding the Silicon Valley pioneer dump the CEO that was hired to turn around the slumping chipmaker. If the goal is realized, the investment would deepen the Trump administration’s involvement in the computer industry as the president ramps up the pressure for more U.S. companies to manufacture products domestically instead of relying on overseas suppliers. The Associated Press takes a closer look at how this unusual deal appears to be on the verge of getting done.

FILE - Audience members gather at Made By Google for new product announcements at Google on Aug. 13, 2024, in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada, File)

Google loses appeal in antitrust battle with Fortnite maker

August 1, 2025

A federal appeals court has upheld a jury verdict condemning Google’s Android app store as an illegal monopoly, clearing the way for a federal judge to enforce a potentially disruptive shakeup that’s designed to give consumers more choices. The unanimous ruling issued Thursday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals delivers a double-barreled legal blow for Google, which has been waylaid in three separate antitrust trials that resulted in different pillars of its internet empire being declared as domineering scofflaws monopolies since late 2023.

Google’s AI push pays off with solid second quarter, but doubts about company’s future persist

July 23, 2025

Google’s accelerating shift into artificial intelligence helped propel its corporate parent to another quarter of solid growth while a crackdown on its internet empire looms in the background. The results released Wednesday for the April-June period provided the latest sign that Google is deftly navigating the technological landscape’s tilt toward AI while still capitalizing on well-worn techniques that have made it the internet’s main gateway for the past quarter century. Google’s progress enabled its parent company Alphabet to post earnings and revenue growth that exceeded analysts’ predictions, causing the company’s stock to rise more than 2% in Wednesday’s extended trading after initially sinking over concerns about increased spending on AI.

Netflix delivers another strong performance in second quarter while following a familiar script

July 17, 2025

Netflix on Thursday announced another quarter of steady growth built upon its video streaming service’s more than 300 million subscribers. It’s a familiar script that Netflix has followed for the past three years to widen its lead in video streaming while delivering strong financial results. While Netflix’s earnings once again easily eclipsed Wall Street’s expectations during the April-June period, its revenue came in right around the bar set by analysts. Investors evidently were hoping for a more robust performance as Netflix’s high-flying stock dipped in extended trading.

Apple loses bid to halt court ruling that blocks some fees from its iPhone app store

June 5, 2025

A three-judge appeals panel rejected Apple’s request to pause an April 30 order banning the company from charging a fee on in-app iPhone transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system in a two-page decision issued late Thursday. The setback threatens to divert billions of dollars in revenue away from Apple while it tried to overturn the order reining in its commissions from e-commerce within iPhone apps. Apple sought to put the order on hold shortly after it was issued as part of a stinging rebuke that also held the company in civil contempt of court. It marked the latest twist in a long-running legal battle with Epic Games.

MICHAEL LIEDTKE Technology Writer.