10月29日：Alphabet通过出售曾仅供内部使用的自研AI芯片赚取数十亿美元收入，但为了满足激增的需求而备货，正在消耗现金流，因为这家科技巨头在数据中心上投入巨资。
Oct 29 : Alphabet is making billions of dollars selling homegrown AI chips it once reserved for internal use, but building inventory to meet surging demand is draining cash as the tech giant spends heavily on data centres.
与其传统的搜索和云业务不同，出售与英伟达竞争的AI芯片要求Alphabet在客户付款前很久就投入硬件支出，给现金流带来压力。
Unlike its traditional search and cloud businesses, selling AI chips that compete with Nvidia's requires Alphabet to spend on hardware well before customers pay, putting pressure on cash flow.
财务总监Anat Ashkenazi周三在Alphabet财报后电话会上概述了这一权衡，这提供了一个早期视角，展示了一个已成为公司最大增长领域之一的业务的成本，而投资者正担心AI对其利润丰厚的搜索广告业务构成威胁。
The trade-off, outlined by finance chief Anat Ashkenazi on Alphabet's post-earnings call on Wednesday, offers an early look at the costs of a business that has emerged as one of the company's biggest growth areas as investors fret over AI's threat to its lucrative search advertising business.
Ashkenazi表示：“过去库存余额主要是我们的一些硬件产品，现在那些尚未售出的TPU（定制芯片）系统将体现在库存中。所以你看到现金流出……这不是传统意义上的资本性支出，而是现金流产生的一个不同周期。”
"Where previously inventory balances were primarily some of our hardware products, now those TPU (custom chip) systems that are not yet sold will be showing up. So you see cash going out ... it's not the traditional kind of capex but rather a different cycle of cash flow generation," Ashkenazi said.
就在投资者对AI不断上升的成本更加担忧之际，这种转变可能给Alphabet带来压力。周四该公司股价下跌近11%，此前公司报告了又一个季度的现金消耗，并重申明年在AI基础设施上的支出将大幅上升。尽管如此，这些处理器正在帮助推动增长。
That shift could pressure Alphabet just as investors grow more concerned about the mounting cost of AI. Its shares fell nearly 11 per cent on Thursday after the company reported another quarter of cash burn and reiterated that spending on AI infrastructure would rise sharply next year. Still, the processors are helping drive growth.
Alphabet未单独披露被称为张量处理单元的芯片的收入或利润率，但表示其销售做出了“有意义”的贡献，因为Google Cloud 9月季度收入翻了一倍多。
Alphabet does not break out revenue or margins from the chips, called tensor processing units, but said their sales made a "meaningful" contribution as Google Cloud revenue more than doubled in the September quarter.
Google Cloud负责人Thomas Kurian表示，TPU系统（将芯片与网络、存储和软件捆绑）的销售预计将在本季度进一步增长，并在2027年大幅攀升。
Sales of TPU systems, which bundle the chips with networking, storage and software, are expected to rise further in the current quarter and ramp up significantly in 2027, Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian said.
Alphabet去年表示将向Anthropic供应价值数百亿美元的TPU。媒体报道称，公司也在就类似协议与OpenAI进行洽谈。
Alphabet last year said it would supply Anthropic with TPUs worth tens of billions of dollars. Media reports have said the company is also in talks on a similar deal with OpenAI.
“我们完全认为这些是短期波动，”Check Capital高级投资官员杰里米·萨尔茨伯格说。
"We completely think these are short-term gyrations," said Jeremy Saltzberg, senior investment officer at Check Capital.
“我们没有理由相信利润率会与英伟达GPU（图形处理单元）的售价利润率有显著不同。当然，英伟达GPU的利润率令人难以置信。”
"We don't have reason to believe that the margins would be significantly different than what an Nvidia GPU (graphic processing unit) would sell for. And of course, Nvidia GPU margin is incredible."