Alphabet share price plunges as Apple eyes AI search plans

ALPHABET, the parent company of Google, experienced its most significant share price drop since October on Wednesday, plummeting 7.5% after Apple announced a historic decline in Safari search and hinted at a strategic shift towards Al-powered competitors.

- SASKIA KOOPMAN

This development could signal the beginning of the end for Google’s longstanding dominance.

The stock’s dramatic fall on Wednesday - which wiped approximately $150bn off the tech giant's market value - came after Apple's chief, Eddy Cue, disclosed that the company is “actively looking at” integrating AI search providers such as OpenAI or Anthropic into its Safari browser.

This change could disrupt the $20bn per year agreement that has made Google the default search engine on all Apple devices - a crucial component of Google's advertising business.