Alphabet crossed a historic milestone on Monday, January 12, 2026, becoming the fourth company in the world to reach a $4 trillion market valuation, underscoring a dramatic resurgence driven by its aggressive pivot toward artificial intelligence.
The landmark moment comes amid a strong turnaround for the Google parent. Just last week, Alphabet overtook Apple in market capitalisation for the first time since 2019, making it the world’s second most valuable company at the time. Investor confidence has been steadily rebuilding, with Alphabet shares surging nearly 65% in 2025, outperforming most of its “Magnificent Seven” peers. The stock has continued its momentum into the new year, gaining an additional 6% so far in 2026.
At the heart of the rally is Alphabet’s renewed focus on AI. The launch of the Gemini 3 model has been widely praised, positioning Google as a serious frontrunner in the global AI race and intensifying competition with rivals such as OpenAI. The model’s reception has reinforced confidence in Alphabet’s long-term AI roadmap.
Google Cloud has emerged as a key growth engine in this transformation. In the third quarter, cloud revenue jumped 34% year-on-year, while the backlog of signed but unfulfilled contracts swelled to $155 billion. Growth has been further boosted by Alphabet’s move to rent out its proprietary AI chips to external customers, opening a new revenue stream and strengthening its infrastructure advantage.
Alphabet’s commercial reach is also expanding through high-profile partnerships. Samsung Electronics is reportedly planning to double the number of mobile devices featuring Gemini-powered AI this year. Apple has entered into a multi-year agreement to build its next-generation AI models and an overhauled Siri on Google’s infrastructure. Meanwhile, Meta Platforms is said to be in talks to invest billions in Alphabet’s AI chipsets for its data centres starting in 2027.
Beyond AI and cloud computing, Alphabet’s core advertising business has remained resilient despite global economic uncertainty, continuing to provide stable cash flows. Regulatory concerns have also eased following a September court ruling that allowed the company to retain control over the Chrome browser and Android operating system, removing a major overhang on the stock.
With Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple having previously crossed the $4 trillion threshold, Alphabet now joins this elite group, marking a defining moment in its evolution from an advertising powerhouse to a central player in the global AI and cloud computing ecosystem.
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