Software Engineer II

Google CEO Sundar Pichai testifies before the House Judiciary Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on December 11, 2018 in Washington, DC.Alphabet , the parent company of Google and YouTube, is set to report first-quarter earnings after the bell Thursday.Here's what analysts are expecting.Revenue: $89.2 billion, according to LSEG$89.2 billion, according to LSEG Earnings per share: $2.02, according to LSEG$2.02, according to LSEG YouTube advertising revenue : $8.97 billion, according to StreetAccount: $8.97 billion, according to StreetAccount Google Cloud revenue: $12.27 billion, according to StreetAccount$12.27 billion, according to StreetAccount Traffic acquisition costs (TAC): $13.66 billion, according to StreetAccountGoogle finds itself at the center of an artificial intelligence arms race where its position may be threatened pending mounting regulation and competition from generative AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic. The company is also among those bracing for the potential impact from President Donald Trump's tariffs, which could result in a pullback in advertiser spending due to tighter budgets.Alphabet shares have dropped more than 17% in 2025 so far.Wall Street is expecting Alphabet to report 10% year-over-year revenue growth for the first quarter, which included a slew of AI announcements, its largest-ever acquisition, cost cuts and regulatory hurdles.In March, Google released Gemini 2.5, its "most capable" artificial intelligence model suite yet, and Gemma 3, the company's latest open model. The timing of Gemini 2.5 and Gemma 3 comes after DeepSeek in January released its R1 model, which caused a rift in Silicon Valley after the Chinese startup claimed its AI model was trained at a fraction of the cost of other leading models.Google AI chief Demis Hassabis told employees at an all-hands meeting in February that he was not worried about DeepSeek and that Google has superior AI technology."We're very calm and confident in our strategy, and we have all the ingredients to maintain our leadership into this year," Hassabis said, calming concerns from investors and employees alike. He added, however, he thinks the Chinese company is still "something to be taken seriously."Google this quarter also announced new personalization features for Gemini, allowing the chatbot to reference users' search histories, and users can also connect Gemini to other Google apps, including Calendar, Notes, Tasks and Photos.During the quarter, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced it would be partnering with Google's Gemini products, giving the company high praise."No company is better at every single layer of computing than Google and Google Cloud," Huang said.Alphabet also had a number of announcements in autonomous driving.In March, Waymo began offering robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas, through the Uber app and opened up a waitlist in Atlanta. Those markets are just two of several more expected expansions in the U.S. this year.Alphabet also made its largest acquisition ever in March when it agreed to buy Wiz for $32 billion in cash, almost $10 billion more than it offered for the startup in 2024, and said it expects the deal to close next year, subject to regulatory approvals

The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit Monday (April 21) against Uber, alleging the company violated laws with deceptive billing and cancellation practices.The FTC’s complaint targeted the Uber One subscription service and alleged the company charged consumers for the service without their consent, failed to deliver promised savings and made it difficult for users to cancel the service, the agency said in a Monday press release.“Americans are tired of getting signed up for unwanted subscriptions that seem impossible to cancel,” FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said in the release.Reached by PYMNTS, an Uber spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the company’s processes “follow the letter and spirit of the law.”“We are disappointed that the FTC chose to move forward with this action but are confident that the courts will agree with what we already know: Uber One’s sign-up and cancellation processes are clear, simple, and follow the letter and spirit of the law,” the statement said. “Uber does not sign up or charge consumers without their consent, and cancellations can now be done anytime in-app and take most people 20 seconds or less.”In its complaint, the FTC alleged that Uber violated the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) by promising savings that the service does not deliver, obscuring material information about the subscription, enrolling consumers without their consent, charging customers before the free trial ended, and making it “extremely difficult” to cancel, according to the agency’s press release.In the statement provided to PYMNTS, Uber countered that it shows material disclosures on the same screen as the option to choose a payment method, does not sign up or charge customers without their consent, enables cancellations in-app in 20 seconds or less, and allows cancellations in the app at any time.It was reported in November that Uber said it received inquiries from the FTC about its Uber One policies and was cooperating with the investigation.In February, the company said during an earnings call that it added 5 million members to Uber One during the fourth quarter, bringing its membership program’s total to 30 million.The FTC reported in March that its law enforcement actions resulted in $337.3 million in refunds to consumers in 2024, up from $324 million in 2023