Apple edged past Microsoft on Thursday to become the most valuable public company in the United States, as announcements made at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference including generative AI features for iPhones sent the stock climbing.
Apple’s market cap closed at roughly $3.29 trillion on Thursday, above Microsoft’s $3.28 trillion. Apple shares rose 0.6% on Thursday and have popped 8.8% so far this week. Microsoft shares rose 0.1% on Thursday.
The iPhone maker’s comeback comes just a week after Nvidia on June 5 surpassed it to become the second-largest public US company. Nvidia now ranks third, behind Microsoft.
Apple on Monday announced a partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI to power some of its phone’s features. Although the partnership will likely give the company a much-needed boost, Apple aligning itself with a company and a technology that have yet to win public trust has raised criticism, especially for taking user inputs and incorporating them into ChatGPT’s data set. Those may cause some privacy challenges down the road for a company that has long prioritized its users’ safety and anonymity.
Still, a big push into AI could spur growth for iPhone sales and services for years to come, as users are now waiting longer to upgrade their devices and an uncertain economic environment weighs on consumers, particularly in China. The company also faces regulatory scrutiny in Washington.
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