Alphabet downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at BNP Paribas Exane
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Business Insider
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Alphabet (GOOGL) Pledges $1 Billion for AI Training at American Universities
Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) has pledged to spend $1 billion over the next three years to provide artificial intelligence (AI) training and tools to U.S. universities and non-profits. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. More than 100 universities have signed on to Alphabet's initiative, including some of America's biggest public universities such as Texas A&M and the University of North Carolina. Participating schools will receive a combination of cash funding and resources such as cloud computing and AI training for their students, as well as research on AI topics and issues. The billion-dollar figure includes paid AI tools, such as versions of Alphabet's Gemini chatbot, which Google will provide to students free of charge. The company hopes to expand the program to every accredited non-profit college in the U.S. and is discussing plans for similar initiatives in other countries. AI Education Alphabet's pledge comes as rivals such as OpenAI and Amazon (AMZN) have made similar commitments around AI education as the technology cascades throughout society. Microsoft (MSFT) recently pledged $4 billion to bolster AI in education. Analysts say the technology firms stand to win future business as students graduate and enter the workforce. The AI education initiatives are also seen as a way for the tech companies to counter widespread criticism surrounding AI's role in learning, from enabling cheating to harming critical thinking. Some analysts have called the AI initiatives good public relations. GOOGL stock is up 4% this year. Is GOOGL Stock a Buy? The stock of Alphabet has a consensus Strong Buy rating among 36 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 27 Buy and nine Hold recommendations issued in the last three months. The average GOOGL price target of $216.78 implies 10.42% upside from current levels.
CNBC
2 hours ago
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How Meta could challenge Apple and Google to become the AI king on our devices
Apple and Alphabet 's Google are often seen as the potential big players in a world where people interact with advanced AI assistant on their phones and other devices — especially as the technology gets more personalized. But there's another name that's perhaps overlooked and that's Meta , according to Clare Pleydell-Bouverie, the co-head of the Global Innovation Team at Liontrust Asset Management. "It's a battle right now in Big Tech to be the UI (user interface) for AI, and Meta actually has an extraordinary distribution advantage here, because they're in the pocket of 3.48 billion users," Pleydell-Bouverie told CNBC in an interview this week. Meta's daily active users across its apps averaged 3.48 billion in June, the firm said in its recent second-quarter earnings statemen. "They already have our attention, and that is something that a lot of companies do not have," Pleydell-Bouverie added. Meta has been aggressively repositioning itself as a key AI company rather than a social media company. The tech giant continues to spend billions of dollars on AI infrastructure such as data centers and chips and is offering huge pay checks for top talent . In June, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta Superintelligence Labs , a division that will spearhead the company's AI efforts. So far, Meta's AI efforts have focused on using the technology to improve the way it serves ads to users and to boost engagement across its apps like Facebook and Instagram. But the company has made a major play for consumers with its own chatbot called Meta AI which is integrated products like WhatsApp and Instagram. Meta's AI play Competition in the consumer AI sector is heating up with a focus on chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude and Google Gemini among others. Pleydell-Bouverie's conviction about Meta AI comes from her view about the company's important data set across its family of apps. Meta's ability to tap into its extensive data set across its family of apps is one of the main factors supporting Pleydell-Bouverie's conviction about the firm being a frontrunner in the sector. "We all know that proprietary data is one of the most important assets to own when it comes to creating an AI product or service, but not all data assets are created equal. Meta has the communication and social-media post data of 3.4 billion users. This is some of the most personal – and importantly – up-to-date forms of data on consumers that exists," she said. "The key is that Meta's platforms are increasingly where personal real-time data is stored and gets transacted." This is where Meta has a key advantage to deliver more "personalized AI," Pleydell-Bouverie said. "The battle to be the UI for AI hinges on being able to deliver personalized AI," she added. AI and the smartphone One challenge facing Meta is to what extent it can stand out from the crowd in a world of established operating systems which are run by other big tech companies. There is also a debate about how people will interact with AI agents. Given the dominance of the smartphone, it's still seen as a key device for users to access to these AI tools. Meta's apps like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are among the most popular apps in the world. But as users turn to AI agents on their devices, the developers of operating systems may have a slight advantage. "The problem Meta has is it does not own a platform like Microsoft or Apple does – it is a collection of apps that are hosted on others' operating systems. As such, it is far easier for Google, Apple and Microsoft to push its AI tools to users in a way that Meta simply can't," Ben Barringer, global technology analyst at Quilter Cheviot, told CNBC by email. Another prevailing view is that as AI becomes more personal, it will learn from people's habits on their devices, including how users interact with apps on their smartphone and other usage patterns. Operating systems developers have a clear advantage here too. "The challenge in the consumer space that Meta has compared to Apple or Google is the idea of personal intelligence. This means that you need to understand the individual's data information and tailor the AI to that," Ian Fogg, tech industry analyst at CCS Insight, told CNBC in an interview. "If you're on a device as part of an operating system, which is what Gemini is or whatever Apple does, you have a clear advantage there." Investors have grown increasingly concerned with Apple's lack of AI strategy and the move of its former design chief Jony Ive to OpenAI, which is working on devices that could rival the iPhone giant. The future operating system While companies like Microsoft, Apple and Google dominate operating systems across consumer products, Pleydell-Bouverie sees the status quo being shaken up. "The OS of the future is essentially going to be the OS of agential AI, which bears no similarity to being the OS of traditional apps," she said. Agentic or agential AI refers to the idea chatbots will become more useful and carry out tasks on a user's behalf like a digital assistant. This may go some way to explain why Facebook rebranded as Meta in 2021 with a focus on the so-called "metaverse," a digital world where avatars socialize, play and shop together. This could be accessed by Meta's virtual reality headsets or via a web browser. The concept has not taken off and Meta's Reality Labs division continues to lose billions of dollars per quarter. But for Quilter Cheviot's Barringer, it's an attempt by Meta to create its own OS. "This is partly why Zuckerberg wants to develop the Metaverse, so that the company has that platform where its own products are in front of its customers, rather than having to be found," Barringer said.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
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Alphabet (GOOGL) Expands AI Partnership With Zoomcar Enhancing User Experience And Operational Efficiency
Alphabet saw a 28% rise in its share price over the last quarter, buoyed by strong earnings announcements and strategic share buybacks. A reported 14% increase in Q2 sales to USD 96.4 billion and a notable rise in net income to USD 28.2 billion significantly contributed to this upward momentum. Additionally, developments such as Alphabet's inclusion in various Russell benchmarks and ongoing client collaborations added further positive weight. The comprehensive market performance, alongside strong tech sector results, likely supported Alphabet's remarkable growth during this period, aligning with broader market uptrends. Buy, Hold or Sell Alphabet? View our complete analysis and fair value estimate and you decide. AI is about to change healthcare. These 26 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10b in market cap - there's still time to get in early. The rise in Alphabet's recent share price reflects positive sentiment around strong earnings and share buybacks, influencing long-term investor perceptions. Over the past five years, Alphabet's total shareholder return, including dividends, reached a substantial 160.13%. This long-term performance contrasts with its recent underperformance compared to the broader US market and Interactive Media and Services industry in the past year, where Alphabet trailed both benchmarks. The announced strategic initiatives in AI and cloud services bolster revenue forecasts, signaling potential for sustained growth. Analysts project Alphabet's earnings to grow from US$115.57 billion today to US$149.1 billion by 2028, with earnings per share reaching US$12.85. However, challenges such as high capital expenditures and regulatory pressures could pose risks to meeting these forecasts without commensurate revenue expansion. The company's current share price of US$196.09 is below the consensus analyst price target of US$216.59, suggesting room for growth if earnings targets are met and revenue growth aligns with expectations. Gain insights into Alphabet's historical outcomes by reviewing our past performance report. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include GOOGL. This article was originally published by Simply Wall St. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
