Apple CEO Tim Cook attended the annual developers conference event at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California on June 10, 2024. During this event, Apple announced its push into artificial intelligence, which led to the company surpassing Microsoft as the most valuable company in the world.
With a market cap of $3.3 trillion, Apple edged out Microsoft’s market cap of $3.2 trillion after investors reacted positively to the news of the company’s AI plans. Apple’s shares surged more than 7% to a record high on Tuesday, and continued to rise by about 4% on Wednesday. The company revealed its plans to incorporate generative AI technology into its native apps and latest devices, offering features like writing-assistance technology and AI-generated emojis.
Analysts from Morgan Stanley, Evercore, and Bank of America have expressed optimism about Apple’s new AI features, predicting that Apple Intelligence will drive users to purchase new iPhones. This move is seen as potentially kick-starting an iPhone super cycle.
The battle for the top spot in terms of market cap continues, with Microsoft having surpassed Apple earlier this year, and Nvidia briefly taking the second-most valuable public U.S. company position. Microsoft is expected to benefit from Apple’s AI ambitions as well, given their close ties to OpenAI, whose models will be featured on Apple devices. Microsoft is one of OpenAI’s largest investors, and its Azure cloud services have seen growth due to the adoption of OpenAI’s models.