Google’s Strategic Moves: AI Innovations & Eye-Tracking Acquisition Boost Market Presence

Google A (GOOGL) has experienced fluctuations in its stock performance recently. As of last week, the stock saw an increase of 1.68%. However, over the past week, it has declined by 4.7%, and year-to-date, it has fallen by 12.49%. The current market valuation of Google stands at $2,017.32 billion.

On March 14, 2025, Google A reported a transaction volume of $5.26 billion, ranking ninth among U.S. equities for that day. This represented a 1.27% increase compared to the previous day, with a total trading volume of 31.99 million shares. Despite an increase on that day, over the last five trading days, the stock has seen a 4.81% decrease, with an overall 2.81% dip for the month of March.

Google, known formally as Alphabet Inc., oversees Google as well as a multitude of subsidiaries. Since its restructuring in 2015, Alphabet has ventured into diverse sectors such as technology, life sciences, and capital investment. Google itself remains focused on internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technology, providing a wide array of internet-dependent products and services.

Recently, Google launched its innovative open-source model, Gemma 3, which promises substantial advancements in AI technology. Gemma 3 is capable of running efficiently on a single GPU or TPU, marking a shift towards more accessible AI deployment. Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO, highlighted the model's efficiency, stating that the largest Gemma 3 model requires only one H100 GPU, whereas comparable models demand significantly more computational resources.

The models offer flexibility in scale, with options ranging from 1 billion to 27 billion parameters, allowing developers to tailor their AI applications according to their hardware capabilities. The Gemma 3 has demonstrated significant superiority in preliminary evaluations on the LMArena rankings, outperforming competitors such as Meta's Llama-405B and OpenAI's o3-mini.

In alignment with the launch of Gemma 3, Google has introduced ShieldGemma 2, a tool for image safety checks, providing classifications for dangerous, pornographic, or violent content. Furthermore, Google has initiated an academic program offering research grants in the form of Google Cloud credits to advance studies rooted in Gemma 3 capabilities.

Google's recent acquisition endeavors include negotiating the purchase of AdHawk Microsystems, a company specializing in eye-tracking technology. This acquisition marks Google’s renewed interest in the smart glasses and head-mounted device sectors. With a prospective investment of $1.15 billion, including future performance-based payments, the deal is aimed at bolstering Google's Android XR initiative.

AdHawk's technology boasts low-power components that allow rapid user eye movement analysis, promising enhancements for AR and VR equipment. Although Google previously exited the smart glasses market, its reinvigoration with AI and the impending integration of AdHawk’s technology may herald a return. The acquisition represents Google’s strategic positioning amidst a highly competitive landscape of AR/VR technologies.