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Late last year, Gartner predicted that every cloud sector would record double-digit growth in 2025. August made their crystal ball look especially clear with cloud spending across industries off the charts and cloud investments getting bigger. Google landed a $10B partnership with Meta, signaling they are unapologetically going after AWS and Microsoft’s cloud dominance. Alibaba Group reported a 26% increase in cloud revenue through June. These are just a few signs of a larger shift: AI’s rise is embedding cloud and connectivity deeper into nearly every industry.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR COMMS PROS
- Money talks, and media listen. Reporters use M&A deals and funding rounds as bellwethers of industry momentum. If you’ve got financial news on the horizon, take advantage and pair it with a strategic POV on growth and market trends.
- With AI and cloud comes data centers. Media coverage is starting to shift focus toward the environmental concerns of operating large AI-focused data centers, so have a sustainability talking point ready when pitching these stories.
- The dichotomy between the desire to innovate and the need to navigate changing regulations is another central media theme as cloud and AI expand. Media are looking for clear points of view on how companies are navigating a rapidly shifting regulatory landscape while still pushing technological boundaries
Money, both spent and lost, dominated the tech narrative in August. Google secured a $10B cloud contract from Meta, reinforcing its campaign to go after AWS and Microsoft’s cloud business. Palo Alto Networks made a bold $25B play for CyberArk, while CrowdStrike showed signs of recovery with a proposed $290M acquisition of Onum. IVIX, a software provider for global regulators, raised $60M in fresh capital.
However, not all the news was positive. Baidu and Amazon both reported revenue declines, as policy shifts and trade frictions undercut gains fueled by AI’s surge.
With another earnings season looming, the question is: Can tech companies harness AI’s full potential while navigating regulatory and geopolitical headwinds — or will innovation be sidelined in the name of compliance?
Connectivity and cloud continued to dominate tech media in August, which comes as no surprise considering both are increasingly embedded in every industry. We’re seeing this at both the company and policy level. Databricks is raising funds at a $100B+ valuation, signaling significant investor confidence. OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT 5.0 expands its reach into healthcare. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve announced it’s conducting “technical research” on financial technology, which could pressure banks across the U.S. to modernize in line with federal standards. Expect the lines between sectors to keep blurring. Connectivity and cloud aren’t going anywhere.
We monitor coverage across vertical trades in three main topics: policy and compliance, investment and funding, and innovation. Policy and compliance coverage was the largest bucket of trade coverage across almost all verticals, except insurtech, which had considerably more investment and funding coverage.
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Paul Fabretti’s CommunicAItor’s Digest recaps the backlash to Google’s claim that AI Overviews haven’t hurt publishers. Google Search lead Liz Reid says “click quality” is up and total organic traffic is stable. But many in the industry disagree, pointing to steep drops in click-through rates and a rise in zero-click searches. Fabretti urges PR leaders to align internal expectations: “PR wins may register more in AI citations and branded search lift than in classic referral spikes.”
Click to Scroll
Google scores six-year Meta cloud deal worth over $10 billion
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August saw #AI and #Web3 dominate headlines as Faraday Future unveiled an “EAI + Crypto” strategy, blending enterprise-grade AI with decentralized platforms. #Crypto and #Finance activity surged, with Bullish and Gemini filing IPOs. #Blockchain conversations expanded as Remittix raised $21.8M to bridge fiat and crypto, and the White House proposed putting federal statistics on-chain. At the same time, #IoT, #BigData, and #5G continued to fuel infrastructure innovation across industries.
Social conversations in August centered on AI adoption, semiconductor expansion, and high-profile data breaches. Fintech once again led volume, driven by Solana’s $1.15B milestone and regulatory momentum behind the GENIUS Act. Cybersecurity chatter spiked following incidents at AT&T and the UK Ministry of Defence, amplifying concerns about privacy and institutional accountability. Across the board, conversations reflected a dual focus: harnessing AI’s potential while managing the risks that come with its speed, scale, and trust gaps.
AI’s rapid adoption across industries continued to dominate tech conversations in August, tempered by mounting concerns over its role in cyberattacks and calls for ethical deployment. India’s semiconductor ambitions highlighted shifting dynamics in the global supply chain, while DeFi innovations promised broader access to financial services. Across the board, companies remained focused on driving efficiency, earning trust, and building resilience in a fast-evolving landscape.
August nudged social toward friends-first discovery and AI-native creation. Instagram launched Reposts, a Friends Map, and a Friends tab in Reels, then drew a 37-state AG rebuke over location-safety risks. YouTube quietly auto-enhanced some Shorts with machine learning without notice, stoking creator pushback. At the same time, X’s xAI rolled out Grok Imagine, a text-to-video tool inside X. Governance also tightened: Bluesky blocked Mississippi users rather than comply with a new age-verification law, and TikTok expanded DMs with voice notes and pictures to deepen private sharing.
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