Why Alphabet Stock Ticked Higher Today

On the back of encouraging pronouncements about its ever-deepening involvement with artificial intelligence (AI), Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) two listed stocks both gained ground on Friday. The pair each rose in excess of 1% following CEO Sundar Pichai's remarks on where the company stands with AI.

Those modest price bumps were sufficient to beat the S&P 500 index, which advanced by 0.7% on the day.

Aiming for wider AI deployment

Pichai was a guest on All-In, a popular podcast in which business, technology, and political leaders are interviewed at length. Co-host David Friedberg asked the Alphabet leader whether his company was getting disrupted by aggressive peers that are competing in the AI space.

Image source: Getty Images.

"The dilemma only exists if you treat it as a dilemma," he answered, shrugging off concerns that Alphabet might be losing ground. Many companies in various segments of the tech industry have not only developed AI functionalities, they have deployed them to enhance their offerings. Among the many examples is Microsoft, which is heavily invested in high-profile AI developer OpenAI.

That question could have been inspired by news from another rival, Apple. Last week that company's senior vice president of services, Eddie Cue, said it is pushing for more AI-driven search functionality in its native Safari browser.

Pichai pointed out that Alphabet's Gemini AI platform is embedded in the company's Google search engine, producing results in an AI Overviews box. It's going further with plans for an "AI mode" that will provide users with a fuller and more interactive experience with the technology.

A highly visible proponent of the tech

Alphabet's AI isn't perfect -- much like its traditional search results -- but based on personal experience, I'd say its results are useful most of the time. This indicates to me that the company is indeed dedicated to advancing AI, and as the perennial search king, this should keep it an effective and highly visible user of the technology. Investors were right to be cheered by Pichai's remarks, in my opinion.

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Eric Volkman has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.