Gemini 3 drives significant business growth, Google AI model applications doubled in five months
Google Gemini AI sales have entered a period of explosive growth, with API call volume soaring from 35 billion to 85 billion in just six months, driving improvements in core revenue and profit margins for its cloud business. At the same time, the Gemini Enterprise Edition has secured 8 million subscription users, covering 1,500 companies, but still faces challenges in application depth and customer satisfaction. The market is closely watching its upcoming Q4 financial report to validate investment returns
With the improvement in model quality, the sales business of Google's Gemini AI model has experienced explosive growth over the past year.
On January 19 local time, The Information cited internal Google data indicating that the number of API (Application Programming Interface) call requests for Gemini through Google Cloud has surged. The data shows that the API call volume skyrocketed from about 35 billion at the launch of Gemini 2.5 in March last year to about 85 billion in August, more than doubling.
Insiders revealed that the release of Gemini 3 in November last year sparked a new wave of usage and received widespread acclaim.
This growth is reflected not only in quantity but also in the improvement of quality and profit margins. It is reported that the early Gemini 1.0 and 1.5 models had negative profit margins due to significant discounts. However, with the launch of Gemini 2.5 and subsequent versions, the improvement in model quality has allowed Google to shift from a pure "price war" to a "quality war," achieving positive marginal profits.
Market Challenges Amidst Huge Capital Expenditures
Despite positive business data, the market remains concerned about the high input-output ratio.
Last fall, Google projected that its capital expenditures (Capex) would be between $91 billion and $93 billion, nearly double the $52.5 billion expenditure planned for 2024.
Investors are closely watching the upcoming Q4 financial report for signs that these massive investments are yielding returns.
Opportunities and Challenges in Enterprise Applications
At the software application level, Google is attempting to improve profit margins through Gemini Enterprise. A Google spokesperson revealed that Gemini Enterprise currently has 8 million subscribers from 1,500 companies, along with over 1 million online registered users.
The spokesperson stated, “We are seeing tremendous momentum across our cloud business, especially with our AI applications.”
However, market feedback has shown a polarized trend. Simon Margolis from consulting firm Sada pointed out that customer feedback is not entirely positive. He bluntly stated, “The ratio of customers who like it versus those who don’t is close to 50-50.”
Some challenges stem from Google's "developer-first" DNA. Margolis analyzed, “Google has always been more of a 'builder's' cloud rather than a 'buying products' cloud.” This means many customers prefer to use the Gemini model directly to build their custom agents rather than purchasing Google's pre-packaged software suites.
Chirag Mehta, chief analyst at Constellation Research, also noted that while Gemini Enterprise excels at answering general questions based on enterprise data, it still struggles with specific tasks. However, he emphasized that customers are not abandoning it like they do with some competitors' products, but rather adopting an attitude of “let's give it a try.”
