Microsoft is still winning the cloud war against Google — but in AI, it’s all to play for

• Microsoft and Google beat earnings estimates amid an intensifying rivalry over AI and cloud growth.
• Google’s growth was fueled by AI progress, while Azure remains key for Microsoft.
• Both companies are spending big on AI, and investors are waiting to see that translate into returns.

Microsoft may be ahead of Google in cloud computing, but the two tech giants are still battling for AI dominance — and ramping up their multibillion-dollar expenditures in the process.