Apple regains world's most valuable company after Microsoft's briefly overtook
The two companies were locked in a tight race.
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Key notes
- Apple regained the lead as the most valuable company, surpassing Microsoft that briefly overtook it.
- Microsoft’s rise is tied to AI, particularly with Copilot and collaboration with OpenAI.
- A major move sees Microsoft introducing a dedicated Copilot key on upcoming Windows 11 keyboards.
Apple just retained the sweet spot as the world’s most valuable company on Friday, following reports of Microsoft briefly overtaking the iPhone makers on Nasdaq. The Redmond-based tech giant has been enjoying its moment for quite some time, thanks to the hotly-anticipated Copilot AI companion.
The two companies went even-steven on Thursday, 11 January: Microsoft took its market value to $2,87 trillion on the Nasdaq. Apple, on the other hand, briefly fell off by 1%. It was the first time since 2021.
But now, at least per Friday, 12 January, the iPhone makers are back in the number one spot with $2,886 trillion.
Last year, Apple was also granted more patents than Microsoft and Google. The company sat on the 7th with 2,536 patents granted, while Microsoft ranked the 14th with 1,820 patent grants.
Redmond’s new cash cow, Copilot, and all things artificial intelligence (AI) have helped the company’s share value skyrocket in the past four years. Its association with OpenAI, the AI company behind ChatGPT & GPT-4, helps Microsoft land one step ahead in the ongoing AI race.
Microsoft is making a big push to make its AI assistant a default part of the Windows experience. The company has just announced a dedicated key for Copilot on future Windows 11 keyboards, which it calls the “most significant” change to the keyboard in 30 years.
