Alphabet stock plunges 12% as AI chatbots threaten Google's search dominance

Alphabet, Google's parent company, saw its stock plunge nearly 12% on Thursday after reporting disappointing quarterly earnings, with investors increasingly worried that artificial intelligence chatbots threaten the dominance of its core search business. The company missed analyst expectations for both revenue and net profit, driven by a slowdown in advertising, which still accounts for 64% of its income. This fueled long-simmering fears that generative AI assistants are eroding Google's search market share, while competitor Microsoft fared better, boosted by 30% cloud revenue growth. Despite the tech-led losses, broader market declines were limited by strong US economic data showing third-quarter growth accelerated to 3.4% annually, beating forecasts. Other notable movers included DoorDash rising 6% on its $17 billion Instacart acquisition, while Eli Lilly and Norwegian Cruise Line gained on strong results.