Shares of Google parent Alphabet plunged more than 12% on Thursday, wiping out around USD 500 billion in market value and marking the company's worst-ever single-day decline. The sell-off followed quarterly results that fell short of analysts' sales expectations and growing investor concerns over rising artificial intelligence (AI) spending. Alphabet reported USD 51.4 billion in capital expenditure in the third quarter, raising questions about returns from investments in data centres and AI infrastructure. Investors are also concerned that AI-powered chatbots could challenge Google's search advertising business and put pressure on future revenue growth.
