The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Microsoft is outstripping Alphabet in the race to make money from generative artificial intelligence through early bets on OpenAI. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that cloud spending by businesses preparing to roll out AI features powered a rebound in growth for Microsoft's Azure platform in its first quarter, lifting its shares up nearly 4 per cent on Wednesday. However, in a sharp contrast, growth at Alphabet's cloud unit hit a near three-year low as its big exposure to smaller clients dampened growth, sending the company's shares tumbling more than 9 per cent. In the battle to tap the next growth driver for the cloud business, Microsoft has focused on its core business clients that already use many of its software services, while Google has turned to start-ups. Morningstar analyst Ali Mogharabi says: "Demand for artificial intelligence drove Microsoft's growth. Demand among Google's larger clients was similar, but the firm is more exposed to high-growth and start-up clients, which have been more aggressive with cost control efforts." If share losses hold, Alphabet Inc. was set to erase more than $150-billion (U.S.) from its market value.