eNews
Sundar Pichai talks Google and Alphabet financial performance with analysts for Q4 meet
MUMBAI: Alphabet & Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressed investors and analysts, highlighting a strong performance in Q4, largely attributed to the company’s advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and a unique full-stack approach.
“Q4 showcased our rapid progress in computing capabilities and efficiencies,” Pichai said. He noted significant improvements in product utilisation, consumer engagement, and revenue growth as a result of innovations in AI, including the launch of AI Overviews in over 100 countries and Circle to Search on more than 200 million android devices.
Notably, Pichai announced that Google cloud and YouTube reached a combined annual revenue run rate of $110 billion at the close of 2024, exceeding their target of $100 billion.
Focusing on AI, Pichai outlined three key areas of innovation: leading AI infrastructure, world-class research, and product integration. The company has invested in eleven new cloud regions and seven subsea cable projects aimed at enhancing global connectivity. Pichai revealed the launch of the Gemini 2.0 AI model, designed to improve user interactions and drive a more multifaceted search experience.
In addition, YouTube continues to thrive, maintaining its position as the leading platform for streaming watchtime in the US with over 45 million viewers engaging with election-related content on a single day. The recent integration of podcasts has proved successful, further solidifying its dominant market position.
Moving to financials, Alphabet’s revenue surged to $350 billion in 2024, a 14 per cent increase year-on-year. Expenditures increased, primarily due to content acquisition costs associated with YouTube and depreciation related to technical investments. Despite rising costs, operating income rose 31 per cent to $31 billion.
With an optimistic outlook, Pichai stated, “We are well-positioned for continued growth in 2025,” as plans to enhance AI capabilities and expand cloud services take shape.
Following Pichai, Philipp Schindler, SVP and CBO, highlighted the strong performance across Google services, with revenues reaching $84 billion, driven by a significant increase in advertising revenue.
Anat Ashkenazi, SVP and CFO, reaffirmed the positive momentum, indicating that the company is prepared for ongoing growth amid anticipated challenges.
The market did not believe their posturing totally as Alphabet shares crashed by seven per cent on Wednesday. Investors reacted badly to Pichai’s plans to spend $75 billion on capital expenditures over 2025 and $16-18 billion in the first quarter as it builds out its AI offerings and races against megacap rivals to build out data centers and new infrastructure.
eNews
PNB partners Kiwi to launch credit-enabled UPI for users
Targets 180 million customers; RuPay card offers 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent cashback
MUMBAI: Swipe, tap, or scan credit is quietly slipping into the rhythm of everyday payments, and Punjab National Bank wants in on the action. The state-run lender has partnered with Kiwi to roll out credit-enabled UPI payments for its 180 million customers, marking a significant push to blend traditional banking with India’s fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem.
At the centre of the collaboration is the launch of the PNB Kiwi Credit Card on the RuPay network. The card is designed with a digital-first approach, offering fully online onboarding and seamless integration with UPI, allowing users to transact via scan-and-pay while accessing credit.
The offering also brings in a rewards layer, with cashback ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent on online transactions, positioning the product as both a convenience play and a spending incentive.
The move comes as UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape, increasingly blurring the lines between debit-led transactions and credit access. For PNB, which operates over 10,000 branches around 60 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas, the partnership signals a targeted effort to extend formal credit to segments that have traditionally remained underserved.
The collaboration also reflects a broader industry shift, where banks and fintech platforms are converging to embed credit directly into payment flows, reducing friction while expanding access.
With RuPay credit cards gaining traction and UPI evolving beyond peer-to-peer transfers, the PNB–Kiwi tie-up positions both players at the intersection of scale, accessibility, and the next phase of digital finance in India.
