This significant upswing demonstrates a marked shift in attitudes toward Alphabet after the 2022 introduction of ChatGPT led certain investors to worry the firm had lost its AI advantage, despite having invented much of the foundational technology for generative AI. Alphabet recovered its momentum this year by making its cloud division a key contributor to growth, which attracted an investment from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, and its new Gemini 3 model is garnering excellent initial reviews.

The milestone, however, could intensify anxieties among some executives who caution that rising valuations have detached market trends from business reality, prompting concerns over an economic bubble reminiscent of the 1990s dot-com era. These bubble fears are also amplified by circular transactions involving OpenAI and Nvidia, two prominent firms in the AI sector. Analysts, nevertheless, maintain that Google is strongly positioned in the AI competition because of its ample cash reserves, its own in-house chip production offering an alternative to Nvidia's expensive processors, and its massive internet search operation, which is already experiencing benefits from AI incorporation.

In October, the moment of truth arrived for the AI tech titans as investors worldwide held their breath after Wall Street's close when Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), and Meta (Facebook) – collectively worth nearly 10 trillion dollars – began releasing their quarterly earnings reports in another attempt to beat forecasts.

Google (through its parent company Alphabet) beat forecasts by 26% ($2.87 per share compared to the $2.27 expected) with revenues of 100 billion dollars. Microsoft also beat forecasts by 14% ($3.72 per share compared to the $3.6 expected). Meta on the other hand had to pay 15 billions in a one-time payment, which resulted in a miss of 84% in the earnings.

Alphabet reported more than $100 Billion of revenue in a quarter for the first time ever. Google parent company Alphabet also reported strong third-quarter results, with revenue climbing 16% year-over-year. Google Search & Other grew 15%, while YouTube Ads increased 15% during the period. Google Cloud posted the strongest growth at 34%, though Google Network saw a 3% decline. The company's EBIT rose 9.5% with a margin of 31%, and earnings per share jumped 35%.

The head of Google's parent firm Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, has recently cautioned the BBC that every company would be impacted if the AI bubble were to burst. Speaking exclusively to BBC News, Pichai acknowledged that while AI investment growth is an "extraordinary moment," there is some "irrationality" in the current boom. Amid fears in Silicon Valley of soaring valuations, Pichai warned, "I think no company is going to be immune, including us."

His wide-ranging interview at Google's California headquarters, reported by the BBC, touched on energy needs, climate targets, UK investment, and AI's effect on jobs, coming as market scrutiny intensifies. Alphabet's shares have doubled in seven months to $3.5 trillion as market confidence in its ability to counter OpenAI grows. A specific focus remains on Alphabet's competition with Nvidia, run by Jensen Huang, which recently hit a $5 trillion valuation, even as analysts question the $1.4 trillion in deals surrounding OpenAI.

Pichai's remarks about "irrationality" echoed Alan Greenspan's 1996 "irrational exuberance" warning during the dotcom boom. Pichai told the BBC the industry can "overshoot" in such cycles. "We can look back at the internet right now. There was clearly a lot of excess investment, but none of us would question whether the internet was profound," he said. "I expect AI to be the same. So I think it's both rational and there are elements of irrationality through a moment like this." His comments follow a similar warning from JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon, who told the BBC some AI investments would "probably be lost." Pichai argued Google's "full stack" model provides a better position to handle turbulence.

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The Reuters news agency removed subtitles from a graphic video showing Palestinian militants seizing seven young Israeli women as hostages, acknowledging the on-screen transcriptions differed from the news agency's own translation of the Arabic audio.

The shocking footage, obtained from a group representing the hostages' families, captures the militants from the Hamas faction storming an Israeli army base near the Gaza border last October. It shows the captors handcuffing the female soldiers at gunpoint, threatening them with executions, and dragging them into seized military vehicles to be taken into Gaza.

Video: The video with the original subtitles / Credit: The Hostage and Missing Families Forum

The original video included English subtitles, presumably translated from the Arabic speech by the source that supplied the footage to media outlets. But in distributing the brutal scenes, Reuters decided to strip those subtitles after its own translations clashed with the on-screen text at certain points.

Most notably, the original subtitles indicate a Hamas militant referring to the young captives using a vulgar Arabic phrase that translates as "sex slaves" or "prostitutes." Reuters' translations rendered this simply as "the cheap ones" - a sanitized version of the derogatory language used about the hostages.

Video: The video with the modified subtitles / Credit: Reuters

"Reuters has removed subtitles on the video as there are discrepancies between the text on screen and audio translated by Reuters," the news agency said in its release notes.

The decision exposes a dilemma for major media outlets in an era of instantaneous content sharing from conflict zones. While amateur footage provides critical documentation, partisan groups may try shaping narratives through selectively misleading transcripts or translations.

In this case, the brutal language attributed to the militants underscores the dehumanizing treatment and potential sexual threats facing the hostages, now held by Hamas for over seven months despite global outrage.

Reuters said it could confirm the captives' identities matched those shared by The Hostages Families Forum. The video shows the visibly distressed young women, some with bloodied faces, being taunted that their "brothers have died because of you" and they would be shot.

The dramatic October 7th attack marked a serious escalation of Israeli-Palestinian violence last fall. Yet the fates of these female hostages, now in Hamas captivity for nearly eight months, remain desperately uncertain.

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Yoga enthusiasts in India's capital New Delhi got an extra dosage of puppy-cuteness during their yoga class, ahead of this year's Valentine's Day.

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Paws and Poses, which specializes in yoga sessions paired with dogs across India, held a Valentine's Day-themed course on Sunday, featuring 11 rescue puppies, including golden retrievers and a shih tzu, all up for adoption.

Video: Credit: Reuters

"It's my first time and I think I found my perfect Valentine, because it's Valentine's week," said class participant Aditi, while holding a golden retriever puppy.

The session lasted for about an hour and was open to couples and singles alike.

While some hardline Hindu groups protest against celebrations of St. Valentine's Day in India, calling them immoral and a corruption of the country's ancient civilization, the year's most romantic day has become increasingly popular, especially in urban areas, led by retailers who had jumped onto the bandwagon.

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Unilever's chief executive on Thursday said the company was "fully committed" to Israel, days after coming under Israeli pressure over a decision by its subsidiary Ben & Jerry's to end ice cream sales in Judea and Samaria.

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The Ben & Jerry's ice cream brand took its decision after pressure from pro-Palestinian groups over its business in Israel and Jewish settlements through a licensee partner since 1987.

"I think if there's one message I want to underscore ... it's that Unilever remains fully committed to our business in Israel," CEO Alan Jope told investors during an earnings call.

He said the group had invested 1 billion shekels ($306 million) in Israel over the past decade and was invested in its startup culture and social programs.

"This was a decision taken by Ben & Jerry's and its independent board ... and we always recognize the importance of that agreement," he said.

Ben & Jerry's, which has built a reputation as a supporter of social justice causes, such as the Black Lives Matter movement and LGBTQ+ rights campaigns, was acquired by Unilever in 2000 in a deal allowing it to operate with more autonomy than other subsidiaries.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned Unilever on Tuesday about "severe consequences" from Ben & Jerry's decision, calling it an anti-Israel step.

The decision has led to a clash between Unilever and Ben & Jerry's independent board, whose chair says it was not consulted on the decision to stay in Israel under a "different arrangement".

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Social media platform Parler, which has gone dark after being cut off by major service providers that accused the app of failing to police violent content, may never get back online, said its CEO John Matze.

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As a procession of business vendors severed ties with the two-year-old site following the storming of the US Capitol last week, Matze said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday that he does not know when or if it will return.

"It could be never," he said. "We don't know yet."

But Matze later stated: "I am an optimist. It may take days, it may take weeks but Parler will return and when we do we will be stronger."

Matze said that Parler was talking to more than one cloud computing service but refused to disclose names, citing the likelihood of harassment for the companies involved. He said the best thing would be if Parler could get back on Amazon.com Inc.

On Monday, Parler, which claims it had over 12 million users, filed a lawsuit against Amazon's cloud computing division.

Matze said its relationship with Amazon appeared to deteriorate overnight and without much warning, an assessment that Amazon disputes in legal filings.

In another court filing Wednesday, Parler said that Amazon had not provided proof that the platform was used to incite and organize the Jan. 6 US Capitol siege. It called Amazon's termination of its services "catastrophic."

Disinformation researchers have said far-right groups that appeared at the riot maintained a vigorous online presence on alternative platforms including Parler, where they spread violent rhetoric ahead of the unrest.

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