Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $368.56, demonstrating a +2.47% change from the preceding day's closing price. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.65%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.92%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 3.07%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the internet search leader had lost 9.35% lagged the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 0.33% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.48%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Alphabet in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $2.86, indicating a 23.81% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $101 billion, reflecting a 23.59% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $14.3 per share and revenue of $422.05 billion, indicating changes of +32.28% and +23.08%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Alphabet. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.05% upward. At present, Alphabet boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Alphabet is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.15. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 16.27.
Meanwhile, GOOGL's PEG ratio is currently 1.54. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Internet - Services industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.67.
The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 165, this industry ranks in the bottom 33% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $367.11, moving +2.5% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.65%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.92%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 3.07%.
Heading into today, shares of the company had lost 8.94% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 0.33% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.48%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Alphabet Inc. in its forthcoming earnings report. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $2.86, signifying a 23.81% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $101 billion, up 23.59% from the year-ago period.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $14.3 per share and a revenue of $422.05 billion, signifying shifts of +32.28% and +23.08%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Alphabet Inc. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.07% higher within the past month. Currently, Alphabet Inc. is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
With respect to valuation, Alphabet Inc. is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.05. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 16.27.
Meanwhile, GOOG's PEG ratio is currently 1.53. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Internet - Services industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.67 as of yesterday's close.
The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 165, which puts it in the bottom 33% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock rose more than 3% on Monday as investors returned to mega-cap technology stocks amid a broad risk-on rally. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 3.02%, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.75%.
Google Announces $1.5 Billion Alabama Data Center ExpansionSeparately, Alphabet’s Google on Monday announced a $1.5 billion investment for 2026 and 2027 to expand its data center campus in Jackson County, Alabama. The facility, which has operated since 2019 on a repurposed former coal plant site, supports the company’s digital services and regional economic growth.
As part of the expansion, Google will fund 100% of the project’s power and infrastructure costs. The company also launched a $2 million Energy Impact Fund with the Tennessee Valley Authority and CAANEAL to support local energy-efficiency and weatherization programs.
Google further pledged $550,000 for STEM education kits for fourth- through eighth-grade students. The company said the new initiatives build on its existing efforts in Alabama, including water stewardship projects, digital skills training for more than 130,000 residents and the creation of hundreds of jobs.
Technical Picture Remains ConstructiveFrom a longer-term perspective, Alphabet continues to trade in an established uptrend. The stock remains about 20.6% above its 200-day simple moving average of $307.94 and roughly 10.3% above its 100-day moving average of $336.66. Shares also remain above the 50-day moving average of $362.26.
However, near-term momentum has softened. The stock is trading about 1.3% below its 20-day moving average of $376.42, suggesting a period of consolidation following its recent advance.
The moving average convergence divergence indicator remains below its signal line, indicating that upside momentum has cooled even as the broader trend remains positive.
Key resistance sits near $408.50, close to the stock’s 52-week high of $408.61. Key support is around $319.50, a prior demand zone that could attract buyers if the stock weakens.
Earnings And Analyst OutlookWall Street expects Alphabet to report second-quarter results on July 22. Analysts forecast earnings of $2.87 per share, up from $2.31 a year earlier. Revenue is projected to reach $113.54 billion, compared with $96.43 billion in the prior-year period.
The stock carries a consensus Buy rating and an average analyst price forecast of $423.46. Recent analyst actions include a Buy rating and $450 price forecast from Needham, a Buy rating and $420 price forecast from HSBC, and an Overweight rating with a $445 price forecast from Piper Sandler.
GOOGL Stock Price Activity: Alphabet shares were up 3.31% at $371.60 at the time of publication on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options: https://bit.ly/2v9tH6D. Alphabet (GOOGL) is a "tortoise and the hare" story, says Kevin Hincks, making the case that its more cautious approach to AI funding compared to other hyperscaler peers is bullish long-term for the Mag 7 company.
Phishing texts that mimic a bank alert or a package delivery notice usually point to a fake website built to capture passwords and card numbers. Google says one criminal network used artificial intelligence to build those websites at a scale no human team could match.
Google has filed a civil lawsuit against that network, a China-based operation it calls Outsider Enterprise, accusing it of using Gemini and other AI models to mass-produce phishing sites. TechCrunch reported that the complaint, filed in Manhattan federal court, ties the network to more than 9,000 fake websites and over 1.5 million fraudulent URLs.
In a Friday (June 12) blog post announcing the lawsuit, Google said during a two-week stretch in May, Android users flagged 55,000 spam texts linked to the operation, generating more than two complaints a minute.
AI Turns Coding Requests Into Phishing Pages Google’s complaint details how members of Outsider Enterprise allegedly prompted Gemini and other AI platforms with requests framed as ordinary coding tasks. One example cited in the filing asked an AI model to write code for a gift redemption page, then fed that output into Outsider’s software to turn it into a live scam site.
According to the lawsuit, the platform bundled more than 290 prebuilt templates copying banks, telecom carriers, retailers and government agencies.
“For a subscription fee as low as $88 a week, the Outsider ‘phish kit’ allows its users to create fraudulent websites, launch phishing campaigns, and steal victims’ credit card numbers, bank account credentials, and personal data,” according to Google’s complaint.
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To reach victims, members of the network allegedly sent text messages impersonating Google, YouTube, the Postal Service and other brands. The messages directed recipients to the AI-generated sites, where victims entered passwords, card numbers and other personal data, according to the complaint.
A Criminal Network Organized Like a Business Google’s complaint described Outsider Enterprise as a set of coordinated groups rather than a single operation. One group allegedly builds and maintains the phishing software and templates, while another supplies lists of targets drawn from public records, social media and past data breaches. A third group runs the SIM cards and modems used to send scam texts in bulk. A fourth group monetizes stolen credentials and launders the proceeds. Google said participants discuss strategy and train each other openly through Telegram channels.
The financial scale is large. TechCrunch reported that the FBI said Outsider Enterprise’s phishing platform has enabled the theft of at least 3.87 million credit card numbers and about $1.9 billion in losses since July 2023.
Google said the recent campaign alone scammed hundreds of thousands of victims, with losses estimated in the millions.
An earlier version of the Outsider software was tied to the theft of at least 36,000 payment cards issued by banks in 95 countries, according to Google’s complaint. That earlier activity predates the AI-assisted version of the platform now at the center of the lawsuit.
Carriers and Lawmakers Google said it is coordinating with the FBI on law enforcement actions, and working with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon to block the scam texts before they reach phones. Google said its own detection systems already intercept more than 10 billion malicious messages a month.
TechCrunch reported that the FBI, working with Google and Lumen’s Black Lotus Labs, seized domains and Shopify storefronts the network used to test its phishing service, along with a Telegram bot the network used to sell software subscriptions.
The complaint also accuses the network of hosting phishing pages on Google Cloud and Google Drive and of copying Google’s trademarks to make scam sites look legitimate.
According to its blog post, Google is advocating for federal legislation aimed at coordinating responses to AI-enabled scams, including bills from Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Josh Harder that would direct law enforcement, government and industry to work together against organized scam networks.
The lawsuit accuses Outsider Enterprise of racketeering, trademark infringement, wire fraud and false advertising, and asks the court for an injunction and damages.
I keep hitting the buy button on Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction), and June’s volatility has only sharpened the urge. Every time the market panics that the Fed will hold rates higher for longer to fight creeping inflation, cyclical tech gets dragged down with it, and one of the cleanest compounders I own goes on sale. Macro-driven index liquidations have historically been the right backdrop to accumulate world-class monopolies, and Alphabet’s enterprise moat is insulated from central bank posturing. So I keep loading.
The thesis I cannot let go of: Google owns the digital plumbing enterprises cannot stop spending on, and AI is accelerating that dependence rather than breaking it. The bears spent a year warning that generative AI would gut Search. Then Search & other revenue grew 19% year over year to $60.40 billion in Q1 FY2026, with queries at an all-time high. The cannibalization story died on the income statement.
Three Reasons the Conviction Keeps Compounding First, Google Cloud is the re-rating engine almost nobody is pricing correctly. Cloud revenue hit $20.03 billion, up 63% year over year, with backlog nearly doubling quarter over quarter to over $460 billion. Inside that, enterprise AI solutions became the primary growth driver for Cloud for the first time, revenue from products built on GenAI models grew nearly 800% year over year, and Gemini Enterprise paid monthly active users grew 40% quarter over quarter. Cloud operating margin expanded from 17.8% to 32.9% in a single year. That is what operating leverage on a moat looks like.
Second, the cash machine economics are absurd in the best way. Q1 delivered $109.90 billion in revenue, EPS of $5.11 versus a $2.63 consensus, and operating margin of 36.1%. Across the trailing twelve months, the business produced a 35.70% return on equity, 29.60% return on invested capital, and a 32.05% operating margin. A P/E near 16 with a 6.27% earnings yield is utility-grade pricing for a business minting these returns.
Third, the balance sheet lets management spend like a hyperscaler without breaking the dividend. Net debt to EBITDA sits at 0.19, debt-to-equity at 0.143, and interest coverage at 903.26. Management still raised the dividend 5% to $0.22 per share, payable June 15, 2026. The Gemini app crossed 350 million paid subscriptions. The compounding pieces are working.
The Risk I Am Not Hand-Waving Away Capex is the honest risk. Capital expenditures more than doubled to $35.67 billion in Q1, and free cash flow fell 46.63% year over year to $10.12 billion. 2026 capex guidance now sits at $180 billion to $190 billion, with 2027 expected to step up further. If those dollars do not earn their cost of capital, the thesis cracks. What keeps me buying anyway is that Sundar Pichai said the company is “compute constrained in the near term” and that “Cloud revenue would have been higher if we were able to meet the demand”. Demand is outrunning what Google can supply.
What Keeps the Buy Button Active The stock is down 10.61% over the past month to $359.68 while the underlying business is running its 11th consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth. I will take that trade every June the market hands me.
A Google sign is pictured outside the Google office in Berlin, Germany, August 31, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse//File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
June 15 (Reuters) - A Chinese-linked hacking group spent more than a year secretly stealing data from U.S. and Canadian academic, medical and military research institutions, before being detected, Google said on Monday.
Between September 2023 and November 2025, the hackers sought information related to defense intelligence, military strategy in the Indo-Pacific, artificial intelligence, unmanned vehicles, cyber warfare programs and medical research, Google’s Threat Intelligence Group said in a report, opens new tab.
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Google did not name the targeted organizations, but said their work covered a broad range of fields, from drug discovery and clinical trials to public health policy and military readiness, and that they collectively employ thousands of people with a combined research budget running into the billions of dollars.
Google has attributed the campaign to a hacking group it calls UNC6508, a relatively new and little-known cyberespionage player. Luke McNamara, deputy chief analyst at Google Threat Intelligence Group, said the organization's methods are broadly consistent with Chinese-linked hacking activity seen over many years, focused on gathering information likely to be of interest to the Chinese government.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beijing regularly denies carrying out or condoning illicit hacking activity.
The earliest known activity tied to the campaign dates to September 2023, when the hackers exploited vulnerabilities in servers running REDCap, a web application widely used by nonprofits to build and manage online surveys and databases. Using custom-built malicious software, the hackers stole legitimate REDCap login credentials to gain access to the targeted networks. They then set up a system to automatically forward emails containing any of nearly 150 keywords and search terms to a Gmail account they controlled, the researchers said.
REDCap did not respond to a request for comment.
The keywords and search terms included phone numbers and email addresses for people at targeted organizations, as well as terms related to geo-strategic policy, military strategy, advanced technology, and medical research.
Google eventually identified multiple compromised organizations across the U.S. and Canada and notified each of them, the researchers said.
Reporting by AJ Vicens in Detroit; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani
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Cybersecurity correspondent covering cybercrime, nation-state threats, hacks, leaks and intelligence
Up to this point, Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META has failed to thoroughly convince markets that its artificial intelligence (AI) spending will pay off long-term.
Meta Platforms Today
$584.84 +17.86 (+3.15%)
As of 09:32 AM Eastern
This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.
52-Week Range$520.26▼
$796.25Dividend Yield0.36%
P/E Ratio21.10
Price Target$840.60
Meta shares are down more than 15% over the past 52 weeks. This contrasts greatly with the sentiment and return of another key Magnificent Seven player: Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL. Alphabet shares have doubled in value over the same period, with the firm showing accelerating growth in its cloud segment.
Amid its success, Alphabet just made a significant announcement. The company said it would raise $84.75 billion through a share issuance program as it looks to further scale its AI capacity. Even with Alphabet’s demonstrated AI strength, investors didn’t react kindly to the news.
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Recent reports say that Meta could follow Alphabet’s equity issuance footsteps. Given this, it is worth examining what an equity raise could mean for the company and investors.
Meta Reportedly Considers Large Equity Raise After Alphabet’s Big AnnouncementNotably, Alphabet shares fell by 4% on the day it announced its funding move, even while the S&P 500 rose slightly. Alphabet’s originally planned equity raise of $80 billion represented around 1.8% shareholder dilution. That figure ticks up very slightly to around 1.9% when considering its upsized $84.75 billion offering.
Overall, this is a relatively minimal amount of dilution, but the market’s reaction was still reasonable. At the end of the day, the raise means that each pre-existing shareholder will own less of the company, all else being equal.
Days later, reports emerged surrounding Meta’s potential equity raise. Reports state that the company is mulling a stock offering valued at “tens of billions of dollars” that will go toward funding its AI strategy. While far from a concrete number, this indicates a significant potential funding round, and thereby shareholder dilution. Still, this move is not set in stone whatsoever, with reports noting that it is “premature” to say Meta has reached a final decision.
A Potential Meta Equity Raise: More Dilution for Less CashNonetheless, it is worth considering the extent to which Meta would need to dilute shareholders to raise tens of billions of dollars. The midpoint of Meta’s 2026 CapEx guidance is $135 billion, or approximately 73% of Alphabet’s midpoint CapEx guidance of $185 billion. Given that a potential Meta equity raise would go toward CapEx, it’s not unreasonable to anchor the value of that raise to 73% of Alphabet’s raise. Doing so would imply an equity raise of around $62 billion (73% of $84.75 billion). With a market capitalization of nearly $1.45 trillion, a $62 billion equity raise would lead to dilution of around 4.3%.
Thus, in order to raise $62 billion, or around $23 billion less than Alphabet, Meta would have to dilute shareholders more than twice as much. This shows how a potential Meta equity raise could be significantly less favorable to shareholders in comparison to Alphabet. Given this dynamic, it is possible that Meta shares could see a larger drop than Alphabet did if a raise became a reality. When comparing the outlooks of these two stocks, this is something investors should consider.
This is even more significant when thinking about a longer timeline. If hyperscaler equity raises were to become increasingly common, Meta’s relative disadvantage when it comes to dilution could compound over time.
Equity Raise Positives: Potential Funding Source for AI ProductsOn the other hand, it is worth thinking about the potential positives of a Meta equity raise. Up to this point, Meta has yet to release swaths of AI products. Most of its AI compute has centered on optimizing its advertising business across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The company has clearly been successful in this. In Q1 2026, Meta’s revenue rose 33% year over year, its highest growth rate since 2021.
Current Price$566.98High Forecast$1,015.00Average Forecast$840.60Low Forecast$700.00Meta Platforms Stock Forecast Details
However, investors still want to see more out of Meta when it comes to AI offerings. Notably, it has been only two months since Meta unveiled Muse Spark, its latest AI model. Muse Spark is considerably more intelligent than Meta’s past LLaMa models, and although not a "frontier" model, Meta believes Muse Spark is competitive.
Putting a competitive AI model under its belt is an important prerequisite to releasing AI products that gain traction. All this is to say that, with Muse Spark still very new, it's fair to think Meta has meaningful AI products in its pipeline.
As Meta pursues such products, an equity raise would be a legitimate way to fund the growth of those products. In turn, Meta could assuage the concerns that have hurt its share price by creating new AI revenue streams.
Overall, while shareholder dilution is far from ideal, the payoff could be significantly greater in the long run.
Amid this, another factor to consider is Meta’s valuation. The stock currently trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 19x. This is very close to its lowest level over the past three years and well below its three-year average near 23x.
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In Greg Abel's first letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders as CEO, he promised to preserve the culture at Berkshire Hathaway established by Warren Buffett. He emphasized financial strength and capital discipline as defining factors of Berkshire and its portfolio. But that hasn't stopped Abel from steering the company toward new investments.
Abel's largest investment so far has been his purchase of Alphabet (GOOG +0.45%) (GOOGL +0.53%) shares on the open market during the first quarter. He spent an estimated $11 billion buying shares, and he recently added another $10 billion to that investment. While Buffett long eschewed tech stocks like Alphabet, Abel is quickly making it a core holding for Berkshire's portfolio.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
An $85 billion bet on the future of artificial intelligence Abel's $10 billion investment in Alphabet is part of a larger $85 billion equity raise from the tech company. Abel was able to negotiate a discount on the shares in excess of the dilution the company faced from the equity offering. With the latest purchase, Alphabet is set to become Berkshire's fourth-largest position, according to publicly available information.
Alphabet plans to use the capital raised to fund additional artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and help employees pay taxes on stock-based compensation. Both seem like good uses of cash right now, as compute capacity and exceptional engineering talent are key growth drivers for Alphabet's business.
Google Cloud, Alphabet's cloud computing platform, is seeing accelerating revenue growth as more capacity comes online each quarter. Management shared plans to spend between $180 billion and $190 billion this year, with a significant increase in spending in 2027. That should fuel continued growth in Google Cloud revenue, which climbed 63% last quarter with operating margin expanding to 32.9% from 17.8% a year ago.
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A few other factors are driving meaningful growth in the cloud segment as well. The company has made tremendous progress over the last 18 months with its Gemini models, which are now on par with leading models from OpenAI and Anthropic. Additionally, its custom AI accelerator chips, Tensor Processing Units, have proven a good alternative to more expensive graphics processing units.
At the same time, Alphabet's core business, advertising, has seen improving revenue growth and profits thanks to valuable AI integrations. AI Overviews and AI Mode have increased engagement with Google Search. Additionally, AI has made advertising more effective by enabling better targeting and more effective ad creatives for marketers. As a result, Google Services is also seeing accelerating revenue growth and expanding operating margin.
At around 25 times earnings, Alphabet looks like a good value, given how quickly the company is growing its top line while expanding operating margins across its business. Abel's decision to double down around the current price makes sense, and considering the amount of capital left to deploy, it won't be a surprise to see him continue adding to the position if the stock moves lower.
As excitement builds around a potential SpaceX (SPCX +19.17%) investment, many Alphabet (GOOG +0.44%)(GOOGL +0.53%) shareholders already hold indirect exposure through its stake. Discover why leverage, volatility, and a long‑term mindset matter so much by watching the discussion in the video below.
*This video was published on Jun. 12, 2026.
Lou Whiteman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Sanmeet Deo, CFA has positions in Alphabet. Tim Beyers has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
In Elon Musk's telling of the story, his friendship with Google co-founder Larry Page soured in June 2015, at the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's 44th birthday party. There, Page reportedly called Musk a "speciesist" for saying he favored humans over future digital life forms.
That happened while they were discussing the terrifying potential of artificial intelligence.
With Musk's 55th birthday just weeks away, and SpaceX having just completed the largest IPO in history, he and Page are the two wealthiest people in the world. Musk's net worth has ballooned past $1 trillion, and Page is far behind at just under $300 billion. Sergey Brin, Google's other co-founder, is third.
The rift may never be repaired, but Musk's companies are more closely intertwined with Google than ever. Thanks to Google's $900 million investment in SpaceX in 2015, the year of the infamous birthday party, the search giant owns roughly 4.9% of Musk's reusable rocket maker, which is now trying to become a major player in AI.
Just ahead of its IPO, SpaceX announced that it would be leasing AI infrastructure to Google for $920 million a month over the course of 32 months. The deal could bring $30 billion in revenue to SpaceX's challenged AI business, and was touted by SpaceX bulls heading into the IPO.
In the 11 years since the relationship between Musk and Page frayed, their worlds have collided on countless occasions, and their businesses have partnered and competed with each other. Here are five developments over the past decade-plus that cemented their bond, for better or worse:
Musk starts OpenAI to take on Google DeepMindIn 2015, Musk co-founded OpenAI with Sam Altman, who was running startup incubator Y Combinator. Musk had the explicit goal of creating a "counterweight" to Google DeepMind, a dominant AI research lab.
It was the same year that Google invested $900 million in SpaceX.
In messages that would come out in court years later, Musk told Altman that if left unchallenged, Google could wield monopolistic control over one of the world's most powerful technologies.
Musk also took more direct aim at Google, recruiting AI researcher Ilya Sutskever away from DeepMind to OpenAI.
Sustkever was credited with co-founding OpenAI and with research breakthroughs that enabled the development of the company's blockbuster AI models and flagship product, ChatGPT. He later left to start Safe Superintelligence, which became a Google Cloud customer in 2025.
Musk follows Google's lead in self-driving carswatch now
Google started up its autonomous vehicle division, now known as Waymo, in 2009. At the time, Tesla was taking orders for the forthcoming Model S, a fully electric sedan that it had not yet begun to manufacture.
Fast forward to October 2020, when Musk was ratcheting up his self-driving promises at Tesla. He started bashing Waymo in posts on Twitter, suggesting Tesla had a more powerful system in the works.
Since then, Musk has repeatedly slammed Waymo for its reliance on the lidar sensors its robotaxis use to navigate and avoid obstacles. Tesla's self-driving systems, still in development, primarily rely on cheaper cameras.
Waymo is now running a fleet of thousands of robotaxis in the U.S., providing more than 500,000 paid trips each week across 11 cities. Tesla has only about 50 Robotaxi-branded vehicles operating mostly in Austin, Texas, according to public records.
While Tesla's driver assistance systems have become more sophisticated over time, the company does not yet sell the "FSD (Unsupervised)" systems that it says will someday make its vehicles safe to use without a human supervisor at the wheel, ready to steer or brake as needed.
SpaceX becomes key Google Cloud customerIn 2021, as Google was working hard to take cloud infrastructure market share from bigger rivals Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, the company notched a big win, inking a deal with SpaceX to help the company run its Starlink satellite internet service.
SpaceX had about 1,500 Starlink satellites in orbit at that time, and around 500,000 subscribers to its offering.
The company would use Google's private fiber-optic network to quickly make connections to cloud services as part of a deal that was set to last about 7 years, sources told CNBC at the time.
"The power of combining cloud with universal secure connectivity, it's a very powerful combination," Bikash Koley, who was then Google's head of global networking and now oversees global infrastructure, said in the announcement.
Alleged affairNot all the Google-related drama was about Page.
In December 2021, Musk had an affair with Brin's ex-wife, Nicole Shanahan, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2022. It took place during Art Basel in Miami.
The report said that Brin filed for divorce shortly after learning of the alleged affair.
After the news broke, Musk denied claims about any romantic involvement with Shanahan. He also disputed the rift with Brin by posting a selfie that he took at a San Francisco party, where Brin is seen laughing with attendees near Musk.
Walter Isaacson wrote, in his authorized biography of Musk, that the SpaceX and Tesla CEO had "maneuvered himself into a position where he could take a selfie with Brin, which Brin tried to avoid."
In a 2023 People Magazine interview, Shanahan denied the affair but said the allegations had resulted in a "debilitating" aftermath for her. She soon linked up with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., becoming his running mate for an unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign. Kennedy now serves as President Donald Trump's health secretary.
Role reversal in cloudEarlier this month, SpaceX became the cloud provider to Google.
SpaceX announced a deal to rent AI compute capacity to Google at $920 million per month for about 32 months. A Google Cloud spokesperson told CNBC the deal was made "to ensure we have bridge capacity to meet surging customer demand for our agent platform, Gemini Enterprise, which has been even higher than we expected."
SpaceX said in filings that Google can end the agreement "after a one-month grace period," if SpaceX fails to deliver the requisite amount of AI chips by Sept. 30. After this year, the agreement can be terminated by either party with 90 days notice.
For some investors, the deal boosted SpaceX's AI story, showing it could generate returns on earlier capital expenditures required to build out the company's Colossus data centers in and around Memphis, Tennessee.
The announcement came just before the SpaceX IPO.
Alphabet's 4.9% of SpaceX, as of the close of trading on Friday, was worth more than $100 billion, making it Google's most lucrative private market bet.
President Donald Trump is set to head to France for the annual summit of the Group of Seven nations, with the U.S. and Iran yet to finalize an anticipated deal to end the Middle East war that has stirred political and economic strife around the world.
The three-day G7 summit, which starts Monday, is taking place in Évian-les-Bains, on France's eastern border with Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Trump said he will depart for the summit "immediately" after attending a mixed-martial arts fight that is set to take place Sunday evening on the White House's South Lawn. The UFC match coincides with Trump's 80th birthday.
As France began its turn leading the G7 in January, President Emmanuel Macron expressed a desire for the group to prioritize reducing inequality and fostering multilateralism while addressing inflamed trade and geopolitical tensions. Those priorities may be counter to Trump's America First agenda, under which he's imposed tariffs, gone after other world leaders directly and on social media and started a war. And inequality in the U.S. is worse than in every European country except for Turkey and just short of its highest point ever, according to the World Bank's Gini index.
During his second term in the White House, even more than in his first, Trump has distanced himself from traditional U.S. allies and repeatedly flirted with pulling the U.S. out of NATO, the key defense alliance between the U.S. and Europe.
While a deal to end the Iran war is drawing much of the world's focus, the G7 leaders are also likely to spend time addressing Russia's war against Ukraine, which continues to rage in eastern Europe.
The seven nations — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the U.S. — and the European Union are also expected to discuss issues related to artificial intelligence, online protections and the fight against organized crime.
There could be "real fireworks" on AI, said Victor Cha, president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Europe is eager to rein in Big Tech and regulate AI leaders on energy and environmental grounds, while the U.S. under Trump has opposed aggressively regulating the nascent industry, Cha said.
But Macron, who has been courting tech leaders, invited OpenAI chief Sam Altman to attend the G7 and participate in talks with the leaders, the tech company told CNBC. Bloomberg reported that executives from Anthropic and Google are also slated to attend the conference.
Cha anticipated that Trump is likely to be greeted at the summit by a group of other world leaders who are trying to rein in the U.S. itself.
"Even under good conditions, Trump is walking into a G7 where the Europeans, they've not appreciated the way that Trump has talked about Europe," he said. "With all these other issues on the agenda, I'm sure it's going to be a very frank and candid and fiery conversation."
But the summit has the potential to be overshadowed by the Iran war, which Trump started in February and which he has repeatedly said is near an end.
A senior Trump administration official told reporters Friday that such a deal could be signed in just a few days. But "it's not 100%" certain that it will work out, the official added.
Trump on Saturday said that a deal to end the war with Iran will be signed on Sunday, followed by the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, but Iranian state media disputed the timing.
The two sides have not yet determined where a deal would be signed, though the official noted a location in Europe has been floated. Bloomberg had reported earlier Friday that a deal could be signed in Switzerland.
Google is making the biggest change to its search business in more than two decades, integrating AI-generated answers, conversational search, and reasoning tools directly into the heart of its search product, which has shaped the course of content and the internet.. Nick Fox, Google's Senior Vice President of Knowledge and Information, argues that AI allows users to ask more complex questions and get faster, more useful answers while still connecting people to content across the web.
As Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL continues to dominate headlines with Google Cloud's acceleration, Gemini's progress, and its massive AI infrastructure buildout, one segment of the company rarely gets mentioned: Other Bets. It is home to Alphabet's moonshot ventures, experimental projects that do not yet contribute materially to earnings but have the potential to reshape entire industries.
And this past week, two of those bets delivered news suggesting the segment deserves far more investor attention than it gets.
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Wing Is Quietly Becoming a Real BusinessAlphabet Today
$359.68 +1.91 (+0.53%)
As of 06/12/2026 04:00 PM Eastern
52-Week Range$162.00▼
$408.61Dividend Yield0.24%
P/E Ratio27.44
Price Target$413.13
On June 8, Wing, Alphabet's drone delivery subsidiary, announced an expansion into seven more U.S. cities through its partnership with Walmart NASDAQ: WMT.
The new markets include Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Salt Lake City, bringing the combined service footprint to nearly 20 U.S. markets.
The expansion is part of a broader plan to build a drone delivery network spanning more than 270 Walmart locations by next year, reaching over 40 million Americans, or roughly 10% of the U.S. population.
The numbers behind the program suggest this is no longer an experiment. Wing has completed over one million commercial deliveries. Its drones fly at up to 60 mph and deliver within roughly 30 minutes. And according to the company, its top 25% of customers are using the service three times a week. That is habitual, repeat usage, the exact kind of engagement that turns a novelty into a durable business.
Notably, Alphabet recently tied a portion of CEO Sundar Pichai's compensation to performance at Wing and Waymo for the first time, a clear signal that these ventures are now expected to deliver.
Waymo Adds a Recurring Revenue LayerOne day later, on June 11, Waymo introduced its first-ever membership program. Waymo Premier, a $29.99-per-month, invite-only tier, offers priority pickups, 10% cash back on every trip in the form of ride credits, early access to new cities, and up to 5 free cancellations per month. The program is launching initially in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, Waymo's three longest-running markets, with tens of thousands of invitations going out to the service's most frequent riders.
The membership move matters because of what it signals about scale. Waymo has doubled its paid rides to approximately 500,000 per week in less than a year and is targeting one million weekly trips by year-end. The company raised $16 billion at a $126 billion valuation earlier this year to fund expansion into more than 20 cities, including its first international markets in Tokyo and London.
For context, Uber's NYSE: UBER comparable membership program, Uber One, reached 50 million members and drove half of the company's gross bookings in the first quarter. If Waymo Premier follows even a fraction of that trajectory, it adds a recurring revenue layer on top of a ride business that is already compounding rapidly.
The Segment Is Still a Loss-Maker, But That Is the PointTo be clear, Other Bets remains deeply unprofitable. In Q1 2026, the segment generated $411 million in revenue against an operating loss of $2.1 billion. For a company that generated $132 billion in net income in 2025 and roughly $160 billion in net income over the trailing 12 months, that loss is easily absorbed. But it underscores why the market assigns little to no value to the segment within Alphabet's almost $4.3 trillion market cap. That is precisely what makes it interesting. Waymo alone carries a private valuation of $126 billion, and the optionality embedded in Wing's commercial scaling is effectively free at current prices.
The Bigger Picture for GOOGLThe stock, up about 15% year-to-date, has seen recent price action that is especially interesting. GOOGL has fallen over 10% from its recent 52-week high, and briefly broke below key support near $357 on June 11.
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Price Chart for Sunday, June, 14, 2026
What stands out is the close from June 11. Having broken below major short-term support, the stock reclaimed that level and closed back in the range. That’s a potentially extremely bullish close and technical pattern, signaling the bulls have re-entered the fray and taken back control. If GOOGL can push back toward the short-term resistance near $372, a higher low might be all but confirmed.
Shifting gears back to the fundamentals, the core Alphabet thesis for investors remains anchored in Search, Cloud, and AI. But weeks like this one are a reminder that the company is also incubating businesses that could matter enormously over the next decade.
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Goldman Sachs recently predicted that artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure spending could climb to between $920 billion and $1.4 trillion next year, up from the more than $700 billion expected to be spent this year. Those are some huge numbers, and there undoubtedly will be some nice winners in the space.
Let's look at three under-the-radar AI stock winners set to benefit from this surge in data center capital expenditures (capex).
Image source: Getty Images
1. Alphabet Alphabet (GOOGL +0.53%) (GOOG +0.44%) is set to be both one of the big spenders and winners when it comes to AI infrastructure spending. The company plans to spend between $180 billion and $190 billion this year, with a significant increase in 2027. However, if there is any company that should be pushing up its capex spending, it's Alphabet.
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The reason is that the company currently has a significant cost advantage with its tensor processing units (TPUs). By being less reliant on Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) than its competitors, it is getting more bang for its buck with its AI infrastructure spending. This lets it train its Gemini model at significantly lower cost than peers and also save huge costs on inference. In many cases, this can also help provide it with a better return with Google Cloud, which is growing rapidly.
Alphabet's TPUs have become so well regarded that it is now allowing select customers, such as Anthropic, to place orders directly with co-developer partner Broadcom. This adds another high-margin revenue stream for Alphabet. Between this and its TPU cost advantage, this is a stock set to win from surging data center capex.
2. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing AI chip spending is now not only going up, but it is also widening. That's great news for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM +0.46%). Whether the spending is going to GPUs, custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) like Alphabet's TPUs, or high-performance central processing units (CPUs), this all benefits TSMC, which has a virtual monopoly in the manufacturing of advanced logic chips.
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While chip designers will inevitably look to second source their manufacturing base if possible, right now they are beholden to TSMC, as it is the only foundry that has both the scale and expertise to produce advanced logic chips in mass quantities with high yields (few defects). This has made the company an integral partner with leading chip designers, who must turn to TSMC not only for help securing capacity but also for planning their entire chip roadmaps. As more chip companies fight to secure fab capacity, this benefits TSMC, which has already shown it has strong pricing power. Recent reports indicate the company will raise prices on its newer 3nm chips by 15% later this year.
This all makes TSMC one of the best stocks to own as spending on AI infrastructure continues to ramp.
3. ASML While TSMC manufactures advanced logic chips, ASML (ASML 1.70%) provides the machines that make this possible. In fact, without its technology, there would be no AI infrastructure boom, as it is the only company in the world with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology.
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EUV machines are what make GPUs and other advanced chips possible, making ASML one of the most important companies, even though it is not a household name.
In addition to being needed in the manufacturing of advanced logic chips, these machines are also used to make high bandwidth memory (HBM), while its older DUV machines can also be used in the memory-making process. Its EUV machines cost upwards of $200 million, so these are pricey pieces of equipment, and the company is seeing robust demand from both foundries like TSMC and the big memory makers.
As AI capex continues to climb, ASML is a great under-the-radar stock to own.
Tech giant and Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL +0.53%)(GOOG +0.45%) has spent billions of dollars buying back its stock over the past decade. But Alphabet is reversing course in a big way, announcing a massive $84.75 billion equity offering earlier this month.
In other words, Alphabet is selling new shares of stock to raise capital to fund its artificial intelligence (AI) investments. Alphabet has primarily funded its AI spending over the past several years with cash flow. Now, the company is pulling out the stops to win the AI war it's waging with other hyperscalers, including OpenAI and Anthropic. Alphabet plans to spend $180 billion to $190 billion this year alone.
However, it's not clear right now whether that's something investors should celebrate or fear. The AI equity raise could have two implications for Alphabet stock.
Image source: The Motley Fool
1. Alphabet is seeing AI's early returns and leaning in The AI boom really began to pick up steam in 2023, and you can see how Alphabet's capital expenditures have continued to grow since then. The company developed its Gemini AI models, launched an app to compete with ChatGPT, and integrated Gemini AI across Google Search and other products and services.
At this point, Alphabet seems to be seeing positive returns from AI across its business. AI has boosted its cloud computing business, helped Waymo grow, and is enabling Google Search to remain relevant in the AI era.
GOOGL Capital Expenditures (TTM) data by YCharts
Additionally, Alphabet reached an agreement with Apple earlier this year to power its next-generation frontier AI models with Gemini. There are roughly 2.5 billion active iOS devices worldwide, so this is a massive lift that naturally will require more AI infrastructure to support it. So, the positive angle here is that Alphabet can justify this AI spending with years of growth ahead.
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2. Investors are now paying Alphabet's AI bill The unfortunate aspect of this is the shift in funding strategy. It's one thing to use cash profits to build out AI, but the equity raise means that existing shareholders will see their stock diluted. To be fair, the near-term dilution is relatively minor. The $84.75 billion equity raise only represents about 2% of Alphabet's current $4.3 trillion market cap.
Alphabet's balance sheet leverage is only 0.33 times its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), so the company could easily afford to take on that debt. But it could be that management felt a 2% dilution was cheaper than paying interest on that debt.
Investors probably don't want to see Alphabet make this a long-term habit, as those raises could add up to significant dilution over the years. Remember, issuing new shares also means the company is paying dividends on those shares. That said, this equity raise should raise no red flags right now, since the upside AI offers is too great an opportunity to pass up.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of GOOG either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Bohdan Kucheriavyi is not a financial/investment advisor, broker, or dealer. He's solely sharing personal experience and opinion; therefore, all strategies, tips, suggestions, and recommendations shared are solely for informational purposes. There are risks associated with investing in securities. Investing in stocks, bonds, options, exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, and money market funds involves the risk of loss. Loss of principal is possible. Some high-risk investments may use leverage, which will accentuate gains & losses. Foreign investing involves special risks, including greater volatility and political, economic, and currency risks and differences in accounting methods. A security’s or a firm’s past investment performance is not a guarantee or predictor of future investment performance.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Alphabet (GOOG +0.44%) (GOOGL +0.53%) has gone on an impressive run over the past year. It's up around 100%, which is incredible considering that Alphabet is now the second-largest company in the world. However, after a run-up like that in a relatively short time frame, investors may be asking themselves if Alphabet stock still has room for more upside in the future.
Let's take a look at Alphabet's rise and future, and see if there's more in store.
Image source: Getty Images.
Alphabet's valuation is reaching new heights Alphabet is better known as Google's parent company. A year ago, the Google Search engine was largely presumed to be obsolete and soon to be replaced by generative AI.
However, that hasn't happened. Instead, Google has masterfully integrated AI into the traditional Google Search engine to give users an AI overview for many of the searches they conduct. This is the most exposure that a large majority of the population will have to AI, and Google being the face of it is good for its future.
Despite its legacy status, Google Search still knows how to get it done from a growth standpoint, with revenue rising 19% year over year during Q1. That places it among the best-performing Alphabet segments, but it isn't even touching Google Cloud.
Google Cloud is Alphabet's cloud computing division, and its revenue grew at an impressive 63% pace in Q1. This growth rate highlights two things. First, there is a massive demand for Google Cloud's servers and AI computing capabilities. Second, Alphabet is making a ton of money from selling its in-house custom AI chips to external customers. Those sales are included in the Google Cloud growth rate, giving it a further boost.
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All of this adds up to a company that's posting solid growth for its size and maturity, with revenue rising 22% year over year and operating income increasing 30%. There's nothing to gripe about regarding Alphabet's core business, but after the stock has doubled in the past year, investors need to look at valuation.
Alphabet's shares trade at about 25 times forward earnings, which isn't necessarily expensive for a big tech company. However, it's not cheap either. The S&P 500 trades for 22.2 times forward earnings, which indicates that Alphabet trades at a premium to the market. However, with Alphabet growing faster than the market, this slight premium is likely worth it.
Alphabet's stock was clearly undervalued a year ago, but that's no longer the case after a meteoric rise. While it's not a screaming deal right now, it's also not a bad investment and will likely outperform the market moving forward if it can keep up its high, double-digit growth rates.
The workers Meta and Google desperately need aren't in Silicon Valley By You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Companies need electricians, welders, and plumbers to build data centers. Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images The AI race has a blue-collar problem. Big Tech wants to fix it.
Days after Meta said it was launching a $250 million program to train Americans for data center construction jobs, Google announced a similar initiative.
The search engine giant on Thursday said it is investing $50 million in skilled-trades training programs across the US in fields critical to building AI and energy infrastructure.
They are tailored for aspiring construction workers, electricians, plumbers, pipe fitters, welders, and other laborers. Some training program partnerships are already underway, a Google spokesperson said.
The moves follow efforts unveiled earlier this year by Oracle and Microsoft to expand existing initiatives aimed at building a pipeline of workers to support the AI boom. Together, they underscore a shortage of tradespeople capable of building the data centers essential to powering AI ambitions — and Big Tech's increasing role in tackling it.
"The constraint on growth isn't hiring more engineers. It's building physical infrastructure," said Tulane University business professor Rob Lalka. "Silicon Valley's white-collar executives won't succeed without blue-collar workers across America."
The construction industry needs an estimated 349,000 new workers this year to meet demand elevated by AI, according to Associated Builders and Contractors, a trade group.
Since tech companies are more accustomed to training workers to use keyboards than bulldozers, they are partnering with organizations such as the International Training Institute for the sheet metal and air conditioning industry to achieve their goals. That has made the likes of Meta and Google highly appealing to proponents of long-standing programs designed to expand the ranks of hard-hat talent.
"We welcome the support of industry leaders like Google to create good, family-sustaining jobs and meet the growing energy needs of our economy," said Kenneth Cooper, international president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, in a statement.
Big Tech's push to build more data centers, however, has also attracted foes.
Some critics point to the vast number of layoffs that tech companies have linked to AI, while residents across the US have been protesting such projects in their communities in recent months. A May Gallup poll found that seven out of 10 Americans oppose living near a data center.
In 2025, permits were issued for 176 new data centers across 34 states — the most new permits in one year since the first was issued in 1976, Business Insider previously reported.
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Sarah E. Needleman You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Sarah E. Needleman covers leadership and the workplace for Business Insider.Previously, she was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal for more than two decades, covering technology companies, entrepreneurship and executive recruiting. In 2022, Sarah received an honorable mention with WSJ colleagues for their coverage of workplace misconduct at Activision Blizzard from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.Sarah graduated from Rutgers University in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She lives with her husband, daughter, and a fur child (an Australian labradoodle) in northern New Jersey.
Here is what investors need to know about the launch.
Alphabet stock is trading at elevated levels. Where are GOOGL shares going? Google Enhances Local Services Ads For Real Estate SearchZillow Stock Impacted by Alphabet's Earlier Pilot TestThose initial test listings prominently featured complete property detail pages alongside immediate options to contact agents or request a home tour.
Competitive Headwinds For Zillow, Redfin and Legacy PortalsCompetitor Price ActionHere is how the market is reacting to the news during Thursday afternoon trading:
Zillow Group: The stock price is currently trading at $32.14, reflecting a daily decline of 5.26%. Fox Corp: The stock is currently trading at $68.41, showing a modest daily gain of 0.60%. CoStar Group: The current price sits at $32.48, marking a notable decrease of 5.09% in response to the headwinds. Photo: Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Alphabet Inc.'s proposed capital raise appears modest relative to its market value, with estimated dilution near 2.25%. Raising equity at elevated valuations may be preferable to issuing long-term debt at current corporate bond yields. Google's net cash position and EBITDA profile may preserve future balance sheet flexibility if rates improve.
Two of the most well-known investors are betting on the same three Magnificent Seven stocks. Here's a look at the stocks owned by both Cathie Wood and Bill Ackman.
Stocks in CommonAckman is the man behind the Pershing Square hedge fund, which lately has been investing in Magnificent Seven stocks.
Wood is the CEO of Ark Invest, the well-known ETF company that runs the six ETFs below.
Across the ETFs and Pershing Square Capital Management, several positions are held by both well-known investors.
In the first quarter, Ackman increased his Amazon holdings by 19%, while cutting his Alphabet holdings by 95%. Meta is a newer position and one of the biggest bets from the hedge fund leader in recent years.
Different Investing StylesAckman is a value and activist investor, known for taking large stakes in companies with dominant positions in their sectors and for pushing for changes to unlock shareholder value.
The hedge fund manager recently initiated a stake in Meta in the fourth quarter and a position in Microsoft in the first quarter, his latest Magnificent Seven bets.
The legendary investor also launched several tracking stocks to give investors better ways to capitalize on the gains from Pershing Square.
Pershing Square (NYSE:PS): Management company that receives fees and royalties on the investments and entities Pershing Square USA (NYSE:PSUS): Portfolio of best ideas, trading at an 18% discount to cash Ark Funds invests in disruptive technology and innovative companies that it believes will outperform in the longer run. This often leads to favoring high-growth, technology-related names. It typically focuses on businesses in sectors like fintech, cryptocurrency, electric vehicles, space exploration, genomics, AI and more.
Photo: ChrisStock82 / Shutterstock
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SpaceX, billionaire Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) and space infrastructure company, goes live on Nasdaq just hours from now – and Anthropic isn't far behind either, having confidentially filed its S-1 at a valuation of nearly $1 trillion. For investors seeking to ride these historic debuts but wary of their unpredictability and premium price tags, there's a quieter, more grounded alternative sitting right in plain sight: Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google, which holds meaningful stakes in both companies.
AI executives from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Mistral AI are expected to attend next week's G7 summit, said officials from France, which is crafting an agenda aimed at discussing the world's crises and broad economic challenges.
Brad Gerstner's Altimeter Capital fully exited its entire 519,290-share Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction) position in Q1 2026, according to the firm's 13F filed May 15, 2026 (SEC CIK 0001541617).
Google is suing to dismantle the infrastructure behind an alleged massive AI-powered cybercrime operation.
On Friday, the tech giant announced a lawsuit against an alleged Chinese cybercrime network called Outsider Enterprise, which Google says uses AI in its campaigns to send scam text messages impersonating Google and other brands to steal passwords and credit card numbers.
Outsider Enterprise has financially scammed “hundreds of thousands of victims” with losses “estimated in the millions.” The group deployed 9,000 fake websites, one million fraudulent web domains, and 2.5 million texts sent to Android users in a two-week period, according to Google.
The company said, “55,000 spam texts were flagged by Android users in just two weeks this past May — that’s more than two text spam complaints a minute.”
Google said it uses “AI-powered tools to fight AI-powered scams,” which enable the company to detect scams and alert users of suspicious calls and text messages, leading to the interception of more than 10 billion scam messages a month.
The company said it has been collaborating with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon to block the scam text messages, and said it is coordinating with the FBI.
An FBI spokesperson told TechCrunch that the bureau, in coordination with Google and Lumen’s Black Lotus Labs, seized several domains used by the cybercriminals, as well as Shopify storefronts and accounts used to test the operation’s phishing service.
The spokesperson said that since July 2023, Outsider Enterprise’s phishing platform enabled cybercriminals to steal “at least an estimated 3,870,000 stolen credit cards and a corresponding estimated $1.9B in losses.”
Inside Outsider Enterprise In its complaint filed as part of the lawsuit, Google laid out the evidence it gathered against people involved in the Outsider Enterprise operations, whom the company said are foreign-based cybercriminals whose real identities are unknown. This group “built, maintains, and uses a turn-key, online software suite that enables criminals, regardless of technical skill, to publish fraudulent websites designed to rob victims and enrich themselves,” according to the complaint.
Google said this “phishing-for-dummies” software called Outsider, which costs $88 per week or $200 per month, allows operators to create fake websites with the help of AI platforms, including Google’s own Gemini. The fake sites impersonate several services and companies, such as telecom providers, financial institutions, government agencies, and retailers.
To lure people to the fake websites, the cybercriminals collaborate with one another to send victims malicious text messages, or purchase ads. The common goal is to steal passwords and corresponding multi-factor codes as well as financial information, which the scammers can do by receiving the data that victims input into the fake websites, with the information being transmitted through Outsider’s platform in real time.
“Part of the Outsider software’s appeal is the ease with which someone with limited technical expertise — like many members of the Enterprise— can purchase the software, execute various phishing attacks, and, upon purchase, meet other members of the Enterprise who are proficient in other areas,” Google wrote, referring to Telegram channels where the cybercriminals can collaborate, train each other, discuss strategies, and develop phishing attacks. “The Enterprise brazenly coordinates its efforts in open and largely uncoded discussions on Telegram.”
According to Google, the Outsider platform allegedly offers cybercriminals “more than 290 pre-built templates that mimic the legitimate websites” that generate replicas of real websites “in minutes,” along with guides on how to “weaponize AI-generated code,” as well as a dashboard to track progress of phishing campaigns. The cybercriminals have allegedly used Google Drive and Google Cloud infrastructure to host the phishing websites.
“The Outsider software has been used to create over a million phishing websites to swindle innocent victims out of millions of dollars,” Google wrote in the complaint.
To give an idea of the scale of Outsider Enterprise’s operation, Google said that over a five-month period, from November 14, 2025 to April 14, 2026, the company detected more than 1.59 million URLs connected to it.
Google said the Outsider Enterprise operation is made up of several groups of cybercriminals: those who develop and maintain the phishing software and website templates; those who supply lists of targets curated from public records, social media, and data breaches; a “spammer group” that provides tools and the infrastructure to send scam texts in bulk, which includes smartphone banks, SIM cards, and modems; and those who monetize the stolen credentials and launder the stolen money.
A screenshot showing a Telegram message where a cybercriminal advertised stolen digital credit cards on several cellphones. Image Credits:Court document The cybercriminals have stolen “at least 36,000 payment cards issued by financial institutions in 95 countries,” according to Google.
The company accused the people behind Outsider Enterprise of impersonating Google and its brands, of infringing its copyright, of racketeering activities, of committing wire fraud, and false advertising. With the lawsuit, Google is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, and an order to stop the criminals from carrying out their activities.
This story was originally published at 10:26 a.m. PDT and has since been updated with new information from Google’s complaint, and the FBI’s comment.
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Large language models continue to struggle with hallucinations, presenting a major roadblock for real-world enterprise applications. Reducing these errors is a messy business, forcing model developers to navigate a strict tradeoff where eliminating factual errors often suppresses valid answers.
