Google hits $4 trillion in market cap on partnership deal to energy Apple AI options

CNBC reported that Apple entered into a multi-year partnership with Google’s Gemini to power its AI features like Siri. “After careful evaluation, we determined that Google’s technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and we’re excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for our users” Apple wrote.

Google’s Gemini became a success transforming the company from a follower in the AI race into a dominant leader, surpassing many industry benchmarks and achieving massive user adoption within a very short timeframe. Gemini models consistently topped benchmarks. Gemini 3 Pro outperformed competitors in 19 out of 20 major benchmarks. The transition from “Bard” to “Gemini” saw one of the fastest market-share gains in tech history.

Gemini’s share of the AI market grew from roughly 5% in early 2025 to over 18% by 2026. This rapid rise directly challenged OpenAI’s dominance. By late 2025, Gemini reached over 650 million monthly active users, fueled by its integration as the default assistant on over a billion Android devices and its ecosystem comprising applications like Gmail, Docs and Sheets.

The price of Google shares touched a new all-time high following the news but pared gains soon after. AI remains the main story of this decade and it continues to power all the related trades like nuclear energy for its data centers and so on. It’s now all about picking the next hot story as the original trend-setters like Nvidia take a breather.