Amazon's cloud unit reports 28% sales growth, topping estimates

amazon web services posted 28% revenue growth in the first quarter, hitting $37.59 billion and beating streetaccount's $36.64 billion estimate. the cloud unit now accounts for nearly 21% of amazon's total revenue. operating income at aws rose 23% to $14.16 billion, well above the $12.84 billion analysts expected. the segment remains a critical profit driver for amazon, even as competition from microsoft azure and google cloud intensifies. azure and other cloud services jumped 40%, while google cloud revenue climbed 63%. amazon deepened its ai bets during the quarter. openai expanded an existing $38 billion aws commitment by $100 billion over eight years, with amazon planning to invest $50 billion in openai. earlier this month, amazon agreed to invest up to $25 billion in anthropic, on top of $8 billion already poured in. aws also said it would make openai models available in its bedrock service, and announced cloud services based on low-latency silicon from chipmaker cerebras.