The allure of artificial intelligence is showing no signs of decline as 2024 gets well underway, with Microsoft’s reveal of its AI capabilities leading to a trading surge over Apple, surpassing the iPhone creator and making Microsoft the most valuable publicly traded company in the world.

Microsoft discussed AI in San Francisco on January 11 and sang its Copilot tool's praises, temporarily surpassing Apple during intraday trading; after a back-and-forth, that lead was secured on January 12 with a 3% share rise for Microsoft and 3% fall for Apple.

On the up

As reported by CNBC, Microsoft ended last Friday’s trading session as "the most valuable public company by market capitalisation", with said market capital reaching a gigantic $2.89 trillion. While Microsoft was discussing AI last Thursday, Apple was announcing the retirement of former VP Al Gore from the board after more than two decades as a member. Soon after, Apple saw a 3% fall in shares and was left just behind Microsoft at $2.87 trillion by the end of trading on Friday.

Apple’s decline behind Microsoft marks the first time in over a year that it hasn’t been the most valuable public company. Even if that reign is over, a full year on top is quite the feat in itself, particularly while battling for its right to take fees from in-game purchases through its App Store.

For Microsoft, last week’s win marks its return to the top after more than a year, claiming the spot often vied for between the tech behemoths and the oil group Saudi Aramco.

Of course, Microsoft’s return to the top can’t be attributed to AI talks alone; the conglomerate went through revolutionary changes in late 2023 with impacts rippling through the games industry as a whole, from developing a mobile storefront for Xbox, to Bobby Kotick concluding his 32-year run as CEO, and, most important of all, the completion of the industry’s biggest acquisition: the $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard.