Amazon’s AI Bets and Cost-Cutting Measures Pay Off, Boosting Stock by 5%

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

November 1, 2024

Shares of Amazon surged over 5% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings. Amazon announced earnings per share of $1.43, alongside revenue reaching $158.9 billion, surpassing analyst projections of $1.14 per share and $157.2 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Key Financial Highlights

North American Sales: Amazon’s North American segment recorded a 9% year-over-year sales increase, totalling $95.5 billion.
AWS Growth: Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud unit, posted $27.5 billion in revenue, marking a 19% rise compared to the same period last year.
Stock Movement: Although Amazon’s stock initially fell over 3% on Thursday before earnings were released, it rebounded significantly in after-hours trading. So far, Amazon shares are up almost 24% year-to-date.

Background on Amazon’s Strategy

Amazon’s recent efforts include major cost-cutting moves, guided by CEO Andy Jassy, to streamline operations since 2022. This restructuring has led to over 27,000 layoffs and the closure of initiatives such as Amazon’s telehealth and same-day delivery services. Despite these reductions, Amazon is doubling down on other key areas, like a $52 billion investment in nuclear energy to support data centers in Virginia, Mississippi, and Ohio. The company is also moving forward with **Project Kuiper**, aiming to build a satellite network of 3,236 units to broaden internet access worldwide—a venture projected to involve over $10 billion in launch costs across five years, according to analysts from Wedbush Securities.

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Amazon’s Market Reach

July’s Prime Day achieved “record-breaking sales,” while the introduction of Amazon’s AI-powered shopping assistant, **Rufus** was rolled out to U.S. customers last month. Notably, Amazon had slightly missed expectations in the previous quarter and cautioned that intense news cycles could distract customers—a factor cited by CFO Brian Olsavsky during the second-quarter earnings call. Despite these challenges, the company’s annual revenue is expected to remain strong.

Noteworthy Figures

Amazon’s market capitalization has reached $1.96 trillion, making it the fifth-largest company globally, trailing behind Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Google. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos, who served as Amazon’s CEO until 2021, holds a net worth of $204.1 billion, much of which is tied to Amazon’s stock. Market fluctuations ahead of Amazon’s earnings report momentarily decreased Bezos’ wealth by around $6 billion. Bezos ranks as the second-richest American, after Elon Musk, on the Forbes 400 list.

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Copyright Law Struggles To Keep Up With AI Training

by News Editor

August 24, 2026

Courts Are Still Applying Old Copyright Rules To AI

AI companies train models on enormous amounts of published material, including books, articles and academic research. Whether using that content without authors’ permission violates copyright law remains unresolved.

Much of the debate centres on fair use, which allows copyrighted material to be used without permission in certain circumstances. Courts consider factors such as the purpose of the use, how much material was involved and its impact on the original market.

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Anthropic Case Sets An Important Precedent

A major case involving Anthropic and a group of authors provided one of the clearest rulings so far. Judge William Alsup found that using copyrighted books to train AI models was lawful, comparing the process to people reading and studying literature before creating something new.

Anthropic was nevertheless ordered to pay $1.5 billion in a settlement. The penalty concerned books the company had obtained from illegal online libraries rather than the AI training itself.

For AI companies, that distinction could prove significant because it separates studying copyrighted material from directly copying it.

Competition Could Be The Key Issue

A case involving Thomson Reuters and Ross Intelligence offers a different perspective. A court ruled that Ross could not claim fair use after using Reuters’ copyrighted material to develop a competing AI-powered legal research platform.

The decision suggests courts may be less willing to consider AI training fair use when copyrighted content is used to build a product that directly competes with the original.

For authors, an unresolved question is whether AI-generated content should be considered competition for the works used to train these models.

The Law Has Yet To Catch Up

US copyright law predates generative AI by decades, leaving courts to apply old principles to new technology. Questions also remain over copyright protection for AI-generated works. In Thaler v. Perlmutter, a court ruled that material created entirely by AI cannot receive copyright protection.

Major AI companies remain involved in copyright litigation, and different courts could reach different conclusions. For now, there is no universal rule: the legality of AI training will depend on the circumstances of each case and how courts ultimately interpret copyright and fair use.

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