Highlights: Microsoft boosted on the stock market by artificial intelligence. Valued at nearly $2.900 trillion, the U.S. computer giant briefly overtook Apple on January 11, 2024. Microsoft's investments in OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, were one of the driving forces behind its soaring listing. The question remains: is this market interest in AI sustainable? In other words, does it represent a stock market bubble, like the internet bubble in the early 2000s? "Microsoft's valuation is 14 times higher than its revenue, which is around $200 billion," says Mohamed Makhlouf.

Microsoft boosted on the stock market by artificial intelligence

The group co-founded by Bill Gates became the most valuable company in the world, briefly overtaking Apple on Jan. 11, with whom it has been vying for the top spot ever since. This performance can be explained in particular by its investment in OpenAI and the integration of the popularized Chat GPT technology into its products.

Microsoft's investments in OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, were one of the driving forces behind its soaring listing. © AP/Michael Dwyer

By: Arthur Ponchelet

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It's a small earthquake in the world of new technologies. On Friday, January 11, Microsoft became the most valuable listed company in the world. Valued at nearly $2.900 trillion, the U.S. computer giant briefly overtook Apple on January 11, 2024, which had previously held the top spot since 2010. Since then, the two IT giants have been vying for the spot. In the first two weeks of the year alone, the Redmond group's shares gained around $92 billion.

To explain the increase, we must turn to artificial intelligence. "Microsoft has benefited from the positive impact of the launch of generative artificial intelligence," explains Mohamed Makhlouf, a professor at ESSCA and a specialist in artificial intelligence. But beyond investing in companies such as OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, Microsoft has "integrated these artificial intelligence capabilities into several of its products, such as the Bing search engine," the specialist analyzes. So much so that Microsoft is often perceived today as one of the leaders in artificial intelligence.

Read alsoArtificial intelligence will affect at least 40% of jobs worldwide, according to the IMF

The American giant founded by Bill Gates is not the only one to benefit from market interest in AI. "Amazon, for example, is doing very well. In addition to its core business, it has invested in the intelligent cloud (storage service on remote servers using AI), and it is a very powerful growth engine," says Mohamed Makhlouf. The same phenomenon applies to Nvidia, which manufactures graphics cards that enable the development of AI.

To survive, Apple must embrace AI

The question remains: is this market interest in AI sustainable? In other words, does it represent a stock market bubble, like the internet bubble in the early 2000s? "Microsoft's valuation is 14 times higher than its revenue, which is around $200 billion. This is a much higher ratio than what we saw at the time of the dot-com bubble. Today, there is no certainty about the sustainability of these stock market prices, especially with all the societal changes that accompany the development of AI," continues Mohamed Makhlouf.

Long a champion of stock market valuation, Apple is going through a slightly more difficult period. The Apple firm lost about 3% of its value in the first weeks of 2024. This is mainly due to the poor sales of its new iPhone in China, a crucial market for the Cupertino company.

Apple is expected to unveil its virtual reality headset, the Vision Pro, in February. "They need to improve their products in terms of artificial intelligence to be able to survive and maintain their market share," Makhouf said. He concluded: "If users can't find an equivalent offer from Apple, they won't wait long to switch to competitors.

Read alsoChatGPT, the enfant terrible of artificial intelligence, blows out its first candle

Microsoft boosted on the stock market by artificial intelligence

Microsoft boosted on the stock market by artificial intelligence

To survive, Apple must embrace AI

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