Alphabet set to report first-quarter results after market close

Alphabet will report first-quarter earnings after the bell Thursday.

Here is what analysts are expecting.

Wall Street is expecting Alphabet to report a second straight quarter of year-over-year revenue growth in the low teens. While that marks an acceleration from the prior few quarters, the numbers are in comparison to some of Google's weakest reports on record.

The generative artificial intelligence boom has forced Google to reckon with changing consumer behavior in terms of how they access information online, and has pushed the company to make sure it doesn't fall behind OpenAI and Microsoft in developing new technology and features.

Google has been reorganizing to try and stay ahead in the AI arms race as more users move away from traditional internet search.

In February, Googleintroduced its AI image generator, which the company pulled after users discovered inaccuracies that went viral online. The mishap followed several other product launch mistakes in Google's effort to get tools and services out the door.

Prabhakar Raghavan, a senior vice president who oversees search at Google, told employees last month that the need to rapidly invest in AI has changed the market and that they need to move faster.

"We're in a new cost reality," Raghavan said at an all-hands meeting, the audio of which was obtained by CNBC. With generative AI, the company is "spending a ton more on machines," he added. Organic growth is slowing and the number of new devices coming into the world "is not what it used to be."

The first quarter of the year has included "really high highs and low lows," said Raghavan, who led a reorganization of the search unit, putting company veteran Liz Reid as the head of search, reporting to him.

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