Alphabet (GOOG) News Today

Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) shares have moved today on a mix of AI-related partnerships, cost-cutting initiatives and ongoing legal and regulatory developments.

• OpenAI chooses Google Cloud for extra compute capacity—multiple reports highlight a surprise deal that lifted GOOG shares as it boosts cloud revenue and deepens AI collaboration.
• Sum-of-the-parts analysis suggests shares may be 13%–35% undervalued—an analyst raised his price target to $200 by Q3, citing strong segment comparables at Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Snap.
• Android 16 launch enhances Google’s platform features, potentially driving greater device and app engagement.
• YouTube ecosystem report shows 490,000 jobs created and $55 billion added to U.S. GDP in 2024, underscoring the strength of Google’s creator platform.
• U.S. judge rejects a class-action privacy lawsuit over Chrome data collection, removing a legal overhang.
• Analyst consensus remains bullish—27 analysts rate GOOG a “Moderate Buy,” with only three sell ratings on record.
• Bing’s market share gains ease U.S. monopoly concerns, reducing the odds of a breakup or harsh remedies.

• Alphabet rolls out voluntary exit/buyout programs across search, engineering and other teams to reallocate resources toward AI priorities.
• Google overhauls its internal learning platform to focus on AI tools and “business priorities,” aligning employee skills with growth areas.
• New AI Overviews and chatbots are reducing traffic to news websites—short‐term publisher backlash may draw regulatory scrutiny but underlines Google’s AI leadership.
• Short interest remains negligible, with virtually zero days-to-cover, indicating little speculative bearish positioning.

• Mexico’s competition authority is set to rule imminently in a digital-ad antitrust case that could fine Google up to 8% of its local revenue.
• A lawsuit alleges improper promotion of TikTok within the Google Play Store, adding to Alphabet’s legal challenges.
• Waymo temporarily halts self-driving operations in downtown Los Angeles after vehicles were targeted in protests.
• Mixed Q1 results highlighted by Hotchkis & Wiley led to a modest pullback in the stock earlier in the week.