Google signals an accelerated AI push as competition intensifies, particularly from Meta’s Muse AI agent.
- Gemini 4 has entered early post-training and is expected to launch ahead of year-end.
- GOOGL shares had fallen nearly 5% over two sessions as Meta’s Muse gained traction among consumers.
- Meanwhile, OpenAI and Anthropic executives urged governments to cooperate on global AI safety standards at the UN.
Alphabet Inc. shares inched higher in overnight trading after their worst drop in more than a month, as Google DeepMind chief Koray Kavukcuoglu said the company is nearing the launch of Gemini 4.
GOOGL stock rose 0.6% overnight after closing 3.8% lower in Wednesday’s regular session. The selloff was driven by investor concerns over competition from Meta’s Muse AI agent.
Kavukcuoglu, who recently took over as head of Google DeepMind, said at The Information’s AI Agenda Live Summit that Gemini 4 has entered the early stages of post-training, the process of refining a base model for reliability and performance. He said he expects the model to launch “much earlier” than the end of the year.
“Our intention is to roll out an early post‑training version as soon as possible, because we’ve already seen promising results and are very excited,” Kavukcuoglu said.
The comments were Kavukcuoglu’s first public appearance since taking the DeepMind role. They come as Google faces stiffer competition in frontier AI: OpenAI launched its flagship GPT-6 Astra on Sept. 3, and Anthropic unveiled Claude Fable 5.1 on Sept. 1.
AI Leaders Call For Global Cooperation
The AI race is unfolding alongside growing concerns over the risks posed by increasingly capable systems. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged governments to work with the AI industry on global standards during an unusual appearance before the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday.
Altman called for countries that compete in AI to cooperate around shared risks, while Amodei warned that AI could carry potentially catastrophic consequences if poorly managed. Both executives argued that no single company or country can address the technology’s risks alone.
Google Shares Hit As Meta’s Muse Gains Momentum
Alphabet fell for two straight sessions through Wednesday, losing nearly 5%, as Meta’s Muse AI agent gained traction with consumers and raised concerns about competitive pressure on Google’s core businesses.
The weakness came as Muse climbed to the top of the U.S. free-app charts and Meta announced Muse integrations with a host of consumer apps and services at Meta Connect.
As such, the prospect of an earlier Gemini 4 launch gives investors a new data point to assess Google’s response to the accelerating shift toward agentic AI.
Retail View On GOOGL
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for GOOGL improved over the past week and was ‘extremely bullish’ as of late Wednesday. Noticing the selloff, traders debated whether Meta’s Muse launch could challenge Google’s search and Gemini position, with some traders viewing the competitive threat as overstated.
“$GOOGL Easiest buy in the market and it’s not even close,” said a trader.
“$GOOGL Google news and hopefully a solid Trump Xi meeting oh my,” said a trader, referring to optimism around the Donald Trump-Xi Jinping summit on Thursday.
For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<