What force could dethrone AWS after more than a decade of unchallenged dominance?
For years, Amazon Web Services ruled the cloud infrastructure market. It was the default choice without a question for every startup.
Then OpenAI released GPT-4. Microsoft’s exclusive partnership with OpenAI transformed Azure from a second-place player into the obvious choice for AI-first companies. With this week’s earnings, we are seeing the ultimate impact of that strategic decision.
The numbers reveal a market in transition. AWS generates $30.6B in quarterly revenue compared to Azure’s $22.9B and Google Cloud’s $12.5B, but absolute size masks the real story of momentum shifting beneath the surface.
Since GPT-4’s launch, Azure has consistently added more to its ARR than AWS. In two of the previous eight quarters, Google has booked more new ARR than Amazon.
Jamin Ball’s data highlights the trend. Azure surged from 35.8% market share in Q1 2022 to 46.5% during the GPT-4 launch in Q2 2023, seizing first place through its OpenAI advantage.
Google Cloud has captured 6.4 percentage points of market share since Q1 2022, growing from 19.1% to 25.5% in Q2 2025.
Both Microsoft & Google have stronger AI value propositions than Amazon with OpenAI models & Gemini models. And it shows in their growth rates: Microsoft’s and Google’s growth rates now exceed 39% and 32%, respectively, and are accelerating. Meanwhile, Amazon’s growth rate is flat at 17%.
The market explosion tells an even more dramatic story. Total quarterly ARR additions grew from $5.9B in Q1 2022 to $21.4B in Q2 2025—a four-fold increase that reflects AI’s transformative impact on enterprise spending.
Put another way, Google’s new ARR bookings in the last quarter is the size of the whole industry’s bookings just three years ago.
With Azure and Google Cloud Platform growing faster than AWS, the once-strong incumbent’s market position may lead to three equal players. The next trillion dollars in cloud revenue will flow to the platforms that best integrate AI into every layer of their stack.