On August 12, Alphabet declined 3.02% in regular trading, trading at $345.25/share, with turnover of $3.279 billion. The stock underperformed sector peer Meta Platforms, which gained 1.32% in the same session.

The decline was driven by ongoing fallout from a major AI leadership shakeup. Chief Scientist Jeff Dean departed after 27 years to launch his own AI startup, while DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis stepped down as CEO to assume the role of chairman and Alphabet Chief Scientist. Multiple core researchers have collectively departed, intensifying market concerns over talent attrition and competitive positioning against OpenAI and Anthropic. Additionally, the flagship Gemini 3.5 Pro model continues to face launch delays.

Compounding the pressure, French media consortium Alliance de la Presse filed a new antitrust complaint against Alphabet's AI business with French regulators. Meanwhile, the company's decision to raise its capital expenditure guidance to up to $205 billion — more than double its previous year's spending — continues to fuel investor anxiety over AI investment returns. Options markets have reflected growing bearish sentiment, with institutional funds recently deploying multi-million-dollar put structures targeting significant downside.

(The above content is based on publicly available market information, generated by a program or algorithm, and is intended solely as a stock movement alert. It does not constitute investment advice or a basis for trading decisions.)