He started the position during the first quarter, but news of the purchase only surfaced this week, days after Alphabet introduced new artificial intelligence (AI) products at its I/O developer conference. High inflation and rising interest rates have suppressed consumer spending, forcing businesses to cut ad budgets and curb IT investments. The company held 10% market share in cloud infrastructure and platforms services (CIPS) in the first quarter, up from 8% last year, indicating that its revamped go-to-market strategy and continuous product development efforts are paying off.