Alphabet’s Google stock (NASDAQ: GOOG) just suffered a brutal week, falling nearly 15% from its mid-May high of $408. The leading search giant fell to $345 at Wednesday’s close and ended the day in the red. The downturn is making investors nervous to take an entry position, as the equity is yet to bottom out. Every time a price prediction claims an uptick, GOOG heads south and defies the projection. This has made traders skeptical as buying the dip has become a risky affair.
Also Read: Analyst Updates Google Stock Price Prediction: See New Target
What’s Pulling Google Stock Down?
Top-level resignations from important employees are turning costly for Alphabet. The company saw a string of resignations, as senior executives left the firm to join its competitors. Noam Shazeer and John Jumper quit Google to join its top competitor, OpenAI. Many other high-ranking exits added to the Google stock decline, as they joined its peers. Gemini and other AI enterprises could lose steam due to the top-level exits.
The exits cost Alphabet a $270 billion rout in Google stock this week. Shares of GOOG tumbled more than 5% on Monday, in its worst day of the year. Alphabet’s elite AI division is now facing a talent crunch with the top talent leaving for its rivals. Shazeer’s exit comes less than two years after Alphabet spent $2.7 billion just to bring him back into its fold. The company has also lost other top talent to AI startups.
Wall Street is calling this phenomenon the ‘AI brain drain’. The demand for top AI talent is so high that newer firms are willing to shell out big money to pull in the brains. They are even outpacing Alphabet’s remuneration to get the right talent on board. AI skills are now the most sought-after talent, and companies are paying larger-than-life money. All of these are causing Google’s stock to remain in muddy water for more than a month.