“Our commitment to innovation as well as the long-term focus and investment in AI are paying off,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said during a call discussing the results.

The profits would have been even higher if Google wasn’t pouring so much money into building up its AI arsenal in a technological arms race that includes other industry heavyweights Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Facebook parent Meta Platforms and rising star OpenAI. The AI investments are the primary reason Google’s capital expenditures in the past quarter soared 62% from the same time last year to $13.1 billion.