Alphabet became the fourth company to reach a $4 trillion market valuation on Monday, underscoring the scale of investor enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence and the dominance of mega-cap technology firms in global equity markets.
Alphabet’s shares climbed as much as 2% during the session before paring gains, pushing the company into an elite group that includes Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple as the world’s most valuable publicly traded companies.
The move to record highs came after Apple announced that it had selected Google’s Gemini models to underpin its next generation of artificial intelligence features, a development that reinforced Alphabet’s standing as a leading AI platform provider.
Apple partnership boosts AI narrative
In a joint statement, Apple and Google said they had entered into a multi-year collaboration under which future Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology.
“Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology. These models will help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri coming this year,” the companies said.
The partnership marked a high-profile endorsement of Google’s AI capabilities and helped push Alphabet’s shares higher, as investors viewed the deal as validation that Gemini can compete at the highest levels of the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
A volatile year for Alphabet shares
Alphabet’s ascent to a $4 trillion valuation caps a volatile 12 months for the stock.
Shares fell to a 52-week closing low of $144.70 on April 8, after the broader market sold off following President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2.
Alphabet-specific concerns also weighed on the shares earlier in the year.
Investors worried about potential remedies stemming from an ongoing antitrust trial, as well as the risk that rival AI chatbots were gaining ground in search, threatening Google’s core business.
Those concerns have eased in recent months as the company rolled out a series of AI products that helped restore confidence in its strategy.
AI product launches reassure investors
Alphabet has sought to counter scepticism around its AI roadmap with high-profile launches, including the latest version of Gemini and the Nano Banana image generator and editor.
These releases helped strengthen the company’s competitive position at a time when some investors viewed the debut of GPT-5 from OpenAI as underwhelming.
The perception that Alphabet has regained momentum in AI development has been a key driver behind the stock’s rally, allowing it to surge ahead of rivals and reclaim investor confidence.
Beyond AI models, Alphabet has also turned its cloud computing business into a major growth engine.
Google Cloud’s revenue rose 34% in the third quarter, while its backlog of non-recognised sales contracts climbed to $155 billion.
The cloud unit has benefited from renting out Google’s internally developed AI chips to external customers, a move that has supported its rapid expansion.
The strength of the business drew a rare technology-sector investment from Berkshire Hathaway, further boosting investor confidence.
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