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Alphabet stock falls 3% as Meta’s Muse AI raises competition

Alphabet (GOOGL) stock fell 3% on Wednesday as a broader selloff hit technology companies facing growing competition from Meta Platforms’ rapidly expanding Muse AI assistant.

The move comes after Meta shares jumped 11% on Monday as Muse climbed to the top of Apple’s US App Store.

The development has raised questions about how Alphabet’s position in consumer artificial intelligence could evolve as well-funded rivals introduce new AI products.

Muse can connect with everyday services including Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs, according to Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang.

Meta’s Muse raises questions for Google

Muse’s growing adoption has added to concerns about the potential impact of AI agents on Alphabet’s search-driven advertising business.

AI agents that can perform tasks directly for users could reduce the need to access services through traditional browsers or search interfaces.

That could create a potential challenge for the search activity that supports Alphabet’s advertising business.

Wang said on X that Muse does not feed user data into advertising systems.

The broader competitive question is how Alphabet’s AI position compares with rivals such as Meta, which is continuing to introduce consumer-facing AI products.

The recent momentum around Muse has also supported other AI-linked stocks, although technology shares were mixed on Wednesday.

Google launches new Gemini AI models

Alphabet unveiled two new text-to-speech models from its Gemini 3.8 Flash series on Wednesday as the company continues to develop its own artificial intelligence products.

Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS is designed for creative applications and character development.

Google said the model can generate custom character voices and direct scene dialogue across Google AI Studio, the Gemini API, Gemini Enterprise, Gemini Notebook and Google Vids.

The model allows users to create new voices using natural-language prompts. Google said potential applications include video games, audiobooks, podcasts and other interactive media.

The company also introduced Gemini 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS, which is designed for high-volume and cost-efficient applications.

Google said the model is optimised for dubbing, audio content creation and expressive voice agents with controls for tone, pacing and other characteristics.

Both models began rolling out Wednesday.

Developers can access them through the Gemini API and Google AI Studio, while enterprise and consumer availability is being expanded through Google’s other platforms.

ARK trims Alphabet holdings

The pressure on Alphabet stock also comes as Cathie Wood’s ARK ETFs reduced their holdings in the company.

ARKQ and ARKX collectively sold 16,422 Alphabet shares with a reported value of $5.83 million.

Alphabet’s stock has also faced broader investor questions about competition in AI and the potential effects of increasingly capable AI assistants on established internet businesses.

At the same time, Google continues to expand its own AI offerings through the Gemini family of models.

Alphabet stock has fallen around 1% over the past month while Meta shares have gained 34% in the same period.

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