Alphabet Stock Falls on Market Share Slide against AI Rivals

Shares of Google’s parent company Alphabet slumped more than 3% on Monday after a concerning report suggesting its search powerhouse could surrender significant market share to AI-powered rivals, especially Microsoft’s Bing.

Mobile phone giant Samsung is rumored to be installing Bing as its default search engine, unseating Google as its longtime search engine of choice. To address increasing AI competition, Google is understood to be forging ahead with a new AI-powered search engine named “Project Magi.”

Reports indicate Google intends to change the way results appear in Google search and will include an AI chat tool to answer questions. The project is expected to be unveiled to the public next month, although analysts note that Google is late to the AI game.

Samsung has not confirmed its rumored decision, but is said to be watching the runaway success of ChatGPT with interest. The global AI race is truly alive, with tech companies like Meta, Baidu and IBM, as well as a long line of startups, all striving to develop AI-powered tools.

As the dominant market leader in search for two decades, Google has been playing catch up, culminating in an embarrassing error by its Bard AI tool during a recent live event. Shares of Alphabet plunged 7.7% that day, wiping $100 billion off the company’s market value.

Speaking in a recent interview, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai urged the need for companies to “be responsible in each step along the way” as they build and release AI tools.