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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4]
2026-07-31 Morning edition
Morning edition
AI News Daily

AI News Daily
2026-07-31

Cloud earnings showed AI investment turning into revenue, while OpenAI cut inference prices by up to 80% and Google DeepMind pushed Gemini into whole-body robot control.

4 stories  |  Model releases and corporate developments

Today's highlights

Four stories that set the day

01   Model release

OpenAI cuts GPT-5.6 pricing by up to 80%

Published: 2026-07-30
  • Luna API pricing cut by 80%; Terra cut by 20%.
  • Sol gets a new high-speed option instead of a price cut.
  • The cuts also flow through to usage conversion for Codex and ChatGPT Work.
Why it matters

Cheaper inference lowers the break-even line for putting LLMs into business processes, and pressures rivals on price.

80%
API price cut for Luna in the GPT-5.6 family
Source: https://openai.com/index/advancing-the-price-performance-frontier-with-gpt-5-6/  |  https://x.com/OpenAI/status/2082878156483219672
02   Corporate developments

AWS revenue beats expectations on AI demand

Published: 2026-07-30
  • AWS revenue rose 37% year on year to $42.2 billion, against a market expectation of 31.2% growth.
  • The AI business and the chip business each doubled to more than $2.5 billion in annualised revenue.
  • Amazon shares rose more than 9% in after-hours trading.
Why it matters

Concrete evidence that a hyperscaler's AI investment is converting into revenue, easing doubts about the payback on AI capacity.

37%
Year-on-year AWS revenue growth, to $42.2 billion
Sources: Bloomberg  |  https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/30/aws-earnings-q2-2026.html
03   Corporate developments

Azure passes $100 billion in annual revenue

Published: 2026-07-30
  • Full-year Azure revenue grew 41% year on year and topped $100 billion for the first time, in Q4 results released on 29 July 2026.
  • Quarterly capital expenditure reached $41 billion, up 70% year on year.
  • Shares rose sharply and Wall Street's concerns over AI spending eased.
Why it matters

Heavy AI investment by a major cloud provider is tracking with real revenue growth, shaping sentiment and cloud budget planning alike.

41%
Year-on-year growth in full-year Azure revenue
Sources: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/29/microsoft-msft-q4-earnings-report-2026.html  |  Bloomberg
04   Model release

Google DeepMind unveils Gemini Robotics 2

Published: 2026-07-30
  • A model for humanoid robots covering whole-body control, high dexterity and coordination between multiple robots.
  • Walking, crouching and object manipulation are handled by a single model.
  • Supports robots working together on a shared task.
Why it matters

AI is extending from text and dialogue into physical work, a trend worth tracking for manufacturing and logistics operations.

1
Single model spanning locomotion, manipulation and multi-robot teamwork
Source: https://deepmind.google/blog/gemini-robotics-2-brings-whole-body-intelligence-to-robots/
Trend overview

Three currents running through the day

Spending justified

Amazon and Microsoft earnings confirmed AI investment is converting into revenue, temporarily easing the market's concern over AI spending.

Price war

OpenAI is cutting inference costs to widen real-world usage, intensifying price competition between models.

Physical AI

Google DeepMind is advancing Gemini's robotics applications, and competition in physical AI is starting in earnest.

Wrap-up

Three things to remember

What to watch next

Whether rival providers answer OpenAI's price move, and whether the next round of cloud results keeps revenue growth ahead of a capital expenditure line rising 70% year on year.