On Jan 7, 2026, Alphabet ($3.88T) passed Apple ($3.84T) by market cap as AI momentum and agentic tools in Google products outpaced Apple's delayed Siri upgrades.
© E. Vartanyan
For the first time in years, Apple has ceded the title of the most valuable technology company to a key rival. As Wall Street’s attention tilts from smartphones toward artificial intelligence, Alphabet, Google’s parent, has once again edged past Apple by market capitalization.
By the close of trading on January 7, 2026, Apple’s valuation had slipped to $3.84 trillion after its shares fell more than 4% over several days. Alphabet moved in the opposite direction, with gains lifting its market value to $3.88 trillion. It is the first crossover of this kind since 2019, when Alphabet briefly took the lead before the balance quickly flipped back.
The main engine behind Alphabet’s rise—and the broader tech upswing—has been artificial intelligence. After the AI surge, investors sharply reassessed companies positioned to profit from computing and automation. That dynamic previously vaulted Nvidia into outright leadership, and it now strengthens Google, which is actively developing so‑called agentic AI—systems capable of independently planning and executing complex tasks.
Google’s edge lies in how deeply it is weaving AI into its products. Chrome is evolving into a smart browser that can book tickets, make purchases, or compile information into spreadsheets without direct user input. In a race where the next phase of AI is defined less by answers and more by actions, that integration gives Alphabet a meaningful advantage.
Apple, by contrast, has run into investor skepticism. The Apple Intelligence project fell short of expectations, and an updated Siri with agentic features was postponed. Unless the company can deliver a genuinely breakthrough product—whether an AI service or a successful AR device—its stock is unlikely to regain its status as the market’s default bellwether.