The Motley Foolยท2025-07-08 08:12Core Viewpoint - Investing in artificial intelligence (AI) stocks can be risky, but established companies like Amazon and Microsoft offer safer alternatives for risk-averse investors [1] Group 1: Company Overview - Amazon and Microsoft are leading companies in the AI sector, with Amazon being the fourth-largest publicly traded company and Microsoft the second-largest based on market capitalization [3] - Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 29% market share in cloud services, while Microsoft Azure has a 22% market share, both benefiting from the growing demand for AI models in the cloud [4] Group 2: Partnerships and Investments - Both Amazon and Microsoft have formed partnerships with top AI companies, including significant investments in Nvidia and OpenAI, with Amazon investing $8 billion in Anthropic [5] Group 3: Internal AI Utilization - Amazon utilizes AI for product recommendations on its e-commerce platform, while Microsoft has integrated OpenAI's GPT-4 across its product offerings [6] Group 4: Financial Stability - Amazon reported nearly $638 billion in revenue and over $59 billion in profits last year, while Microsoft generated over $245 billion in revenue and more than $88 billion in earnings [7] - Both companies have substantial cash reserves, with Amazon holding $94.6 billion and Microsoft $79.6 billion [8] Group 5: Market Leadership - Amazon dominates the e-commerce market with a 37.6% share, and Microsoft leads the desktop operating system market with a 70% share [9] Group 6: Growth Prospects - Amazon's revenue grew by 9% year over year, with earnings increasing by 64%, while Microsoft's revenue rose by 13% and profits by 18% [10] - Both companies are well-positioned to benefit from the ongoing AI trend and the transition to cloud computing [10]