Shares of Tesla and Alphabet suffered sharp declines on Thursday, the 23rd, driven by both companies' announcements regarding the continuation and expansion of their investments in artificial intelligence (AI). This increase in expenses generated apprehension among investors, who began questioning the growing costs inherent in the current technology race focused on AI.
Tesla's stock closed the day with a retraction of 14.5%, while Alphabet's shares, which own Google, fell by 7.1%. For the electric vehicle manufacturer led by Elon Musk, this represented the worst daily performance recorded since March 2025. With this devaluation, Tesla lost about US$ 200 billion (equivalent to R$ 1 trillion) in market value in a single day. Simultaneously, Alphabet saw its capitalization decrease by approximately US$ 300 billion (R$ 1.5 trillion).
The market movement also impacted Amazon, whose shares declined by 4.6% during the session, resulting in an estimated market value reduction of US$ 120 billion (R$ 612 billion).
In an analysis conducted on Wednesday, the 22nd, both Tesla and Alphabet released their financial reports for the second quarter. Both companies reported negative free cash flow during this period. Alphabet, for its part, raised its capital expenditure (capex) projection for the current year, adjusting the estimated range from US$ 180 billion to US$ 190 billion (R$ 918 billion/R$ 969 billion) to a new range between US$ 195 billion and US$ 205 billion (R$ 994.5 billion/R$ 1.04 trillion). Furthermore, the company warned that investments will be even higher in 2027.
Tesla, meanwhile, communicated that its capex increased substantially by 142% compared to the same period last year, reaching US$ 5.79 billion (R$ 29.5 billion) in the second quarter. The company expressed the expectation of investing more than US$ 25 billion (R$ 127.5 billion) throughout the year.
During the earnings conference call, Elon Musk sought to calm investors, arguing that the high levels of investment would bring significant returns. He stated: 'This is a huge year of capital investment. I am confident that everything we are investing in will yield incredible returns. Perhaps the best returns on capital investments we have ever seen.' The executive cited company projects, such as semiconductor production and the development of Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot, as examples of resource allocation. The company reported that it is 'installing first-generation Optimus lines' and that it will 'begin production soon.'
Anat Ashkenazi, Alphabet's Chief Financial Officer, clarified that the increase in investments is primarily due to the urgency of increasing the company's computational capacity to meet the growing demand for AI. According to the executive, the rise in spending stems mainly from the acceleration in delivering capacity to meet increasing demand. Alphabet has indicated that it currently lacks adequate computational infrastructure to keep pace with the demand for its AI services.
Ben Barringer, Director of Technology Research at Quilter Cheviot, pointed out that investor concern goes beyond just the increase in contributions, encompassing other aspects of Alphabet's strategy. He observed to CNBC that 'investors seem to be focusing on the strong increase in capital expenditures, alongside a weaker outlook for margins, while the continuous delays of Gemini 3.5 Pro and the lack of truly groundbreaking product launches have raised doubts about whether Alphabet's AI investments are already translating into a clear competitive advantage.'
Despite market apprehensions, the results showed positive signs. Google Cloud division revenue grew by 82% in the second quarter, totaling US$ 24.8 billion (R$ 126.5 billion) and exceeding analyst expectations. Alison Porter, Portfolio Manager at Janus Henderson, commented to CNBC that this performance indicates that some of Alphabet's investments are already bearing fruit. She emphasized that 'this is one of the strongest revenue growth quarters Alphabet has had in the last five years, and Alphabet is an excellent barometer for this entire wave of artificial intelligence.' Porter also mentioned the improvement in Google Cloud's operating margin, which rose from 20.7% in the second quarter of last year to 35.6% in the same period this year, as another indicator of the positive effect of the investments. She concluded: 'We find this scenario very encouraging for capital investments aimed at AI and also for the returns these platforms are achieving with these expenditures.'
In the automotive sector, Tesla's main segment also showed progress during the quarter. The automotive division recorded revenue of US$ 20.5 billion (R$ 104.6 billion), representing a 23% increase compared to the same period last year.
US President Donald Trump introduced a new round of tariffs on Thursday, July 23. This step was taken after the previous tariffs imposed by the Trump administration were set to expire on Friday, July 24.
A representative of U.S. Trade Policy stated that the Washington administration aims to reach certain agreements regarding the trade deal between the United States, Mexico, and Canada before the end of the current year.
The comments by Jamieson Greer were made during hearings of the Senate Finance Committee. These statements came after President Trump's decision to suspend the North American trade pact, as well as after the U.S. imposed new fifty percent tariffs against Canada.
China intends to establish an international union to counter fraud in the telecommunications sector and online scams. The founding ceremony of this alliance is planned to take place in September at the Global Forum on Public Security Cooperation Conference in 2026.
The Ministry of Public Security of China announced at a press conference on Friday that it will host the founding ceremony of this union during a conference to be held in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, located in eastern China.
According to Jiang Guoli, head of the ministry's Criminal Investigation Bureau, this alliance will be an intergovernmental organization that will attract broad participation from law enforcement agencies worldwide. The main task of the organization is the effective fight against cross-border fraud in telecommunications and online scams.
Jiang stated that more than forty countries have already expressed their willingness to join this alliance. He emphasized that China welcomes the participation of all countries, proposing to strengthen intelligence sharing, increase the effectiveness of joint operations, activate coordinated control measures, and work together on the global fight against fraud.
Jiang noted that telecommunications fraud and online scams have become a global problem and a serious challenge for public administration. The Chinese police have made combating and preventing such crimes a priority for the next five years, noting that the vast majority of fraudulent operations are currently based outside of China. In addition to existing law enforcement mechanisms, the Chinese police will increase efforts to prevent these crimes through the created alliance.
