Alphabet Plunges 12% in Record $500 Billion Market Value Loss

Alphabet, Google's parent company, plunged over 12% on the New York Stock Exchange, losing nearly $500 billion in market value in one of its largest-ever single-day drops after releasing quarterly results. The investor sell-off was driven by a negative cash flow of $9.1 billion, only the second such quarter since Google's 2004 IPO. Declining search ad revenue, coupled with massive AI investments, fueled concerns about returns on data centers and chips. Analysts warn Google is losing market share to chatbots like ChatGPT, while its own AI-generated search results cannibalize the traditional page, reducing ad clicks. This forces tech firms to work harder convincing investors that heavy AI spending will pay off.