Google's parent company, Alphabet, outperformed analysts' expectations on Tuesday, reporting second-quarter earnings of 1.89 per share, the same as its first quarter results. Alphabet's CEO, Sundar Pichai, touted the results as proof that the company's investments across different areas of its tech empire were seeing positive returns. "Our strong performance this quarter highlights ongoing strength in Search and momentum in Cloud. We are innovating at every layer of the AI stack," Pichai stated in the earnings report. "Our longstanding infrastructure leadership and in-house research teams position us well as technology evolves and as we pursue the many opportunities ahead."

Legacy retailers like Target and Walmart are upping artificial-intelligence efforts to get the desired products into the customer's hands easier, cheaper, and faster. The better-than-expected earnings for some firms -- along with the uneven performance of others -- demonstrates the potential that AI has to transform the retail industry and the treacherous road ahead to get there. Walmart, for instance, is rolling out new technology in thousands of its stores, with the goal of eliminating the "mundane" tasks done by store associates so they can spend more time with customers. "Pretty much everything that we focus on is just making things that you know and do today a lot easier," John Crecelius, Walmart's senior vice president of central operations, told Business Insider. "What makes this exciting and fun is the ecosystem you create. It's the art of the possible when you have several pieces of technology in the same store gathering data and interacting with each other."

Legacy retailers like Target and Walmart are upping artificial intelligence efforts to get the desired products into the customer's hands easier, cheaper, and faster. The better-than-expected earnings for some firms -- along with the uneven performance of others -- demonstrates the potential that AI has to transform the retail industry and the trecherous road ahead to get there. Walmart, for instance, is rolling out new technology in thousands of its stores with the goal of eliminating the "mundane" tasks done by store associates so they can spend more time with customers. "Pretty much everything that we focus on is just making things that you know and do today a lot easier," John Crecelius, Walmart's senior vice president of central operations, told Business Insider. "What makes this exciting and fun is the ecosystem you create. It's the art of the possible when you have several pieces of technology in the same store gathering data and interacting with each other."

With reports that we may have reached'peak' phone and Apple sales falling for the first time, Google's boss has taken these claims a step further. CEO Sundar Pichai has predicted that the concept of the'device' will fade away and the computer will soon be replaced by intelligent assistants. He made the comments in the firm's annual Founder's Letter in which he discussed the firm's Cloud Platform and its plans for AI. CEO Sundar Pichai has predicted that the concept of the'device' will fade away and the computer will be replaced by intelligent assistants. He made the comments in the firm's annual Founder's Letter in which he discussed the company's Cloud Platform and its plans for AI Every year, the founders of Google's parent company Alphabet - Larry Page and Sergey Brin - write a Founders' Letter to stockholders updating them with recent highlights.

With reports that we may have reached'peak' phone and Apple sales falling for the first time, Google's boss has taken these claims a step further. CEO Sundar Pichai has predicted that the concept of the'device' will fade away and the computer will soon be replaced by intelligent assistants. He made the comments in the firm's annual Founder's Letter in which he discussed the firm's Cloud Platform and its plans for AI. CEO Sundar Pichai has predicted that the concept of the'device' will fade away and the computer will be replaced by intelligent assistants. He made the comments in the firm's annual Founder's Letter in which he discussed the company's Cloud Platform and its plans for AI Every year, the founders of Google's parent company Alphabet - Larry Page and Sergey Brin - write a Founders' Letter to stockholders updating them with recent highlights.