> they didn't plan to just spend cash without any return.

No return? Annual earnings have kept increasing at 20-40% for the last 4 years.

Plus there's this:

https://www.theregister.com/paas-and-iaas/2026/07/22/google-...

> Google Cloud is killing it

> It's Alphabet's fastest-growing business and now makes up more than a fifth of the juggernaut's revenue and operating profit