Core Viewpoint - Google achieved its strongest performance since 2009, with Alphabet's stock rising 65% in 2025, outperforming other tech giants [2][3] Stock Performance - Alphabet's stock saw a significant increase of 65% for the year, surpassing gains from 2021, with shares hitting a low in April before rebounding over 100% [2] - Among tech companies valued over $1 trillion, Alphabet was the largest gainer, while Broadcom and Nvidia followed with gains of 49% and 39% respectively [2] AI Developments - Google faced skepticism regarding its ability to maintain dominance in the AI era, particularly with competitors like OpenAI's ChatGPT [2] - The Gemini app, launched to compete with ChatGPT, gained traction, surpassing 5 billion images generated and topping the Apple App Store [4] - Google expanded its AI talent pool by acquiring key personnel from the AI startup Windsurf for $2.4 billion [5] Legal and Regulatory Environment - A U.S. District Judge ruled against severe consequences for Google in an antitrust case, allowing the company to retain its Chrome browser and continue paying for default search engine placements [6][7] Market Position and Growth - Gemini's usage share increased to approximately 18%, while ChatGPT's share dropped to about 68% [8] - Analysts believe Google's AI investments are positively impacting its core search business, with expectations for a 15% revenue growth in Q4 2025 [10][11] Financial Outlook - Alphabet raised its capital spending forecast for 2025 to $93 billion, with projections for 2026 exceeding $114 billion [12] - Google's cloud business signed more deals over $1 billion in 2025 than in the previous two years combined, indicating strong demand [12] Analyst Sentiment - Despite potential risks from OpenAI's financial obligations, analysts maintain a buy rating on Alphabet's stock, raising the price target to $400, approximately 28% above its recent closing price [13] - Analysts predict a market shakeout similar to 2000, with Google positioned to lead among fewer dominant competitors [14]

Both of these exchange-traded funds are beating the market in 2025 thanks to their concentrated portfolios of AI stocks.With 2025 rapidly drawing to a close, this might be a good time for investors to make adjustments to their portfolios in preparation for the new year. The artificial intelligence (AI) industry has been a major source of stock market returns this year, and anyone who hasn't owned a slice of key players like Nvidia and Palantir Technologies probably underperformed the benchmark S&P 500.But t ...

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is one of the best stocks to buy according to Seth Klarman. As of December 12, the average price target for GOOGL suggests an upside of 7%; however, the Street high indicates an upside of 40%. As of the third quarter of 2025, billionaire Seth Klarman holds 1.85 million shares of Alphabet valued at $452.5 million. On December 5, The Fly reported that Truist analyst Youssef Squali maintained a Buy rating on Alphabet and increased the price target from $320 to $350. The analyst ...

Core Insights - Nvidia has reached a significant milestone as the world's first $5 trillion company, driven by strong growth in AI spending, although its stock has since declined by 10% to around $4 trillion [1][4] - Alphabet is emerging as a serious competitor to Nvidia, with plans to utilize its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) for AI development, which could significantly impact Nvidia's revenue [5][6] Nvidia's Position - Nvidia has experienced substantial earnings growth due to high demand for its GPUs, but it faces risks if customers reduce spending or diversify to other chipmakers [4] - Analysts project Nvidia's revenue to be $316 billion for the next year, indicating potential revenue loss if competitors gain traction [7] Alphabet's Competitive Threat - Alphabet's partnership with Anthropic to use TPUs on Google Cloud starting in 2026 could generate significant revenue, estimated at 10% of Nvidia's revenue, equating to approximately $31 billion [5][7] - Meta Platforms is also considering using TPUs for its AI models, further intensifying competition for Nvidia [6] Alphabet's AI Strategy - Alphabet's AI services encompass a wide range of offerings, providing a robust ecosystem that supports its cloud computing and consumer products [8] - The introduction of AI Overviews has improved engagement and monetization of search results, contributing to a revenue rebound [10][11] - Alphabet's Gemini AI model is gaining traction among developers, with over 13 million users, and is seen as a competitive threat to OpenAI's GPT [13][14] Financial Performance - Google Cloud's revenue has increased by 34% in the most recent quarter, with an impressive 82% growth in backlog, indicating strong future growth potential [15] - Despite heavy investments in AI, Alphabet maintains a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of about 29, reflecting its diversified revenue streams and lower risk profile compared to other AI stocks [16]

Core Viewpoint - The European Union is investigating whether Google is leveraging its dominant position in search to unfairly obtain content for AI training through web crawlers, potentially gaining an unfair advantage in the AI competition [1][2]. Group 1: Investigation Focus - The investigation centers on Google's use of its web crawler, Googlebot, to freely acquire content from the internet, while competitors like OpenAI and Amazon spend millions to secure licensing agreements for training data [2]. - This advantage has allowed Google to quickly catch up to competitors after the launch of ChatGPT, raising questions about whether this rapid development was achieved through fair means [2]. Group 2: Google's Dual Standards - Google enjoys a unique advantage in acquiring AI training data, using Googlebot to index web content while simultaneously utilizing the same data for training its AI models [3]. - Other AI companies must pay for high-quality data, while Google obtains it for free, leading to a situation where publishers face a dilemma: blocking Googlebot risks losing visibility in search results, while allowing its use means forfeiting compensation [3][4]. Group 3: Regulatory Solutions - A proposed regulatory solution suggests that Google should separate its search crawler from an AI-specific crawler, allowing publishers to opt-out or seek compensation for their content [5]. - This separation would create a fairer competitive environment, ensuring all AI companies face similar costs for acquiring training data [5]. Group 4: Market Dynamics - Google argues that the EU's investigation could stifle market innovation, but the reality is that the AI boom is increasingly concentrating profits among existing giants like Google [6]. - The dual use of Googlebot exemplifies how Google may be reinforcing its dominance, and eliminating this potential advantage is necessary for fostering a genuinely competitive AI landscape [6].

Core Viewpoint - Google is under investigation by the European Commission for potentially using copyrighted material from publishers to train its AI models without proper compensation [1][2]. Group 1: Investigation Details - The investigation focuses on Google's use of articles from news publishers and videos from YouTube for its "AI Overviews" and "AI Mode" features [1][2]. - EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera emphasized that while AI brings innovation, it should not compromise societal principles [4]. Group 2: Implications and Reactions - The investigation may escalate tensions between the EU and the Trump administration, which has criticized the EU's actions against US tech companies [5]. - A Google spokesperson warned that the inquiry could hinder innovation in a highly competitive market, asserting that Europeans should benefit from new technologies [5]. - In September, the EU fined Google $3.4 billion for breaching competition rules related to advertising technology, which was labeled as "discriminatory" by President Trump [6]. Group 3: Competitive Landscape - Other tech firms, like Meta, are also navigating the AI landscape, with Meta recently securing licensing deals with major publishers amid competition with Google [9].

(Bloomberg) — Google (GOOG) has been hit by a European Union probe over suspicions the US tech giant is abusing its market power in its rollout of artificial intelligence, days after Meta Platforms Inc. was targeted by a similar probe. In another move likely to stoke White House criticism, EU watchdogs said they will examine whether the Alphabet Inc. unit imposed unfair terms on content creators and giving its own AI model an advantage over its rivals. Most Read from Bloomberg The Brussels-based Europea ...

Google tests merging AI Overviews with AI Mode https://t.co/4SpCxGEKFw ...

Core Insights - The launch of Gemini 3 and the Ironwood AI chip marks a significant comeback for Alphabet in the AI sector, generating excitement among experts and investors [1][2][3] Product Developments - Google introduced Ironwood, its seventh-generation tensor processing unit (TPU), which allows customers to run and scale large, data-intensive models [2] - Gemini 3, the latest AI model, requires less prompting and provides smarter answers compared to its predecessors [2] - The rapid launch of Gemini 3 after Gemini 2.5 indicates Google's commitment to advancing its AI capabilities [9] Market Performance - Alphabet's shares surged over 5% on a recent Monday, adding to an 8% gain from the previous week, reflecting strong investor confidence [4] - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a $4.3 billion stake in Alphabet, highlighting institutional interest [4] - Alphabet's stock has increased nearly 70% this year, outperforming Meta by over 50 percentage points [4] Competitive Landscape - Despite Alphabet's advancements, the AI market remains highly competitive, with experts noting that its lead over rivals is minimal [5][14] - Other companies, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, continue to innovate, with new models being launched that challenge Google's position [15][20] Technological Advantages - Google's ownership of YouTube provides a significant advantage in training models for image and video generation due to the vast amount of data available [10] - The Ironwood chip is reported to be nearly 30 times more power-efficient than its first TPU from 2018, enhancing Google's competitive edge in AI hardware [11] Financial Growth - Google achieved its first $100 billion quarter, driven by growth in its cloud unit, which houses its AI services [10] - The cloud unit has a $155 billion backlog from customers, indicating strong demand for its AI offerings [10] Future Challenges - Google must double its serving capacity every six months to meet the growing demand for AI services, indicating the high costs associated with maintaining its competitive edge [18] - Despite advancements, Google still faces challenges in its consumer chat product, with lower user numbers compared to OpenAI's ChatGPT [20]

AI Impact on Content Creation - AI "recipe slop" is overwhelming search and social platforms [1] - Food creators report Google's AI Overviews and fake food images are diminishing visibility of tested recipes [1] - Reduced traffic for food creators due to AI-generated content [1] - Potential for cooking failures, especially during Thanksgiving, due to unreliable AI recipes [1]