Google sales top estimates on ad surge; Alphabet plans $50 billion buyback

Google parent Alphabet Inc beat quarterly revenue estimates and announced a $50 billion share buyback as the recovering economy and surging use of online services combined to accelerate its advertising and cloud businesses. The results are the first sign that Google services may hold on to gains in usage brought on by lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions.

Tesla wants to make every home a distributed power plant

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants to turn every home into a distributed power plant that would generate, store and even deliver energy back into the electricity grid all using the company’s products, a new company policy to only sell solar coupled with the energy storage products, and a strategy that aims to scale these businesses by appealing to utilities.

Instagram is working on creator shops and a 'branded content marketplace' for influencers

Instagram is going all-in on creators, working on a suite of new tools to help influencers make money off its platform, including creator shops, affiliate commerce and a “branded content marketplace” Mark Zuckerberg announced the upcoming features during a live stream with Instagram chief Adam Mosseri.