Google has surprised investors and users with it's plan to charge for AI services. (REUTERS / Reuters)

Alphabet (GOOG)

Google has caught investors and users by surprise after reports that it could charge users for some of its AI-related services in what would be the biggest shake-up of its commercial model.

According to the Financial Times, it is looking at whether to add certain AI-powered search features to its premium subscription services which already offer access to its new AI assistant called Gemini, Google's version of the chatbot ChatGPT.

The search giant, which is owned by Alphabet, has never before put any of its core products behind a paywall.

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Executives have reportedly not yet made a decision when or whether to move ahead with the technology but the FT said engineers were developing the know-how needed to deploy the service.

Alphabet's shares dipped about 1% in extended trade.

Spotify (SPOT)

Spotify was higher in extended trading after the music streaming service revealed plans to raise prices in five different regions, according to a Bloomberg report.

Spotify Technology SA intends to raise prices on its plans by about $1 (£0.79) to $2 a month in five markets including the UK, Australia and Pakistan by the end of April. The company will raise prices in the United States later this year.

Under the new pricing, individual plans will go up by about $1 a month, while family plans and so-called duo plans for couples will rise by $2, the Bloomberg report added.

On a monthly basis, Spotify offers premium plans including $10.99 for an individual, $14.99 for duo and $16.99 for family in the US, according to the company's website.

In the UK, a premium individual accounts currently comes in at £10.99, a duo costs £14.99 and the family package will set you back £17.99 a month.

Paramount Global (PARA)

Paramount Global is reportedly in exclusive acquisition talks with Skydance Media, according to the New York Times.

Shares surged by over 14% and were higher in extended trading after reports that Skydance and Paramount entered a 30-day exclusive negotiating window Wednesday and have already agreed on terms, though Skydance still needs to ensure it can merge its movie studio with Paramount’s.



The deal currently being discussed with Skydance would involve Skydance’s buying National Amusements, the company that holds Shari Redstone’s voting stock in Paramount. The enlarged Skydance would then acquire Paramount Global, which is publicly traded, in a two-step process.

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This follows a recent $26bn all-cash offer from private-equity firm Apollo Global Management.

Paramount owns the Paramount film and TV studios, streaming service Paramount+, broadcast network CBS, and cable channels such as Nickelodeon, MTV, BET and Comedy Central.

Vodafone (VOD.L)

Vodafone’s £15bn plan to merge with Chinese-owned rival Three will face an in-depth investigation by the competition regulator.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed it will launch a so-called Phase 2 probe after both firms told the regulator they would not be offering measures to ease its concerns ahead of the deadline.

The telecoms giant last year agreed to merge with Three in a deal that will create the UK’s largest mobile network with more than 27 million customers.

However, the tie-up has attracted scrutiny due to concerns that Three’s Hong Kong-based parent company CK Hutchison could be granted access to sensitive national infrastructure.

The regulator said it found in its initial probe that the two companies are important alternatives for mobile customers and combining these two businesses will reduce rivalry between mobile operators to win new customers.

The watchdog also raised concerns that the deal “may make it difficult” for smaller mobile operators – such as Sky Mobile, Lebara and Lyca Mobile – to negotiate good deals for their own customers, by reducing the number of mobile network operators which will host them.

Watch: The two best-positioned megacap tech stocks in 2024: AnalystAMZN) and Meta Platforms (META) were among the tech stock leaders who drove growth in the S&P 500 (^GSPC) throughout 2024's first quarter. The two Magnificent Seven members are Wells Fargo Senior Analyst Ken Gawrelski's top stock picks for the tech sector.
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Amazon is \"making many fundamental improvements in logistics capabilities and efficiencies. So, we expect margins to continue to inflect higher in the retail business,\" Gawrelski tells Yahoo Finance. \"The second business, which is AWS [Amazon Web Services], their cloud business, that was also an inflection in 2023, but that inflection was there after a steep decline of growth from 2022 to 2023.\"
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For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Morning Brief.
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Editor's note: This article was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.","thumbnailUrl":"https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/hM9qAtMlw9dq1BCIOQRWNg--~B/aD0xNDc3O3c9MjYyNzthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2024-03/6c225af0-f1cb-11ee-b999-b7d19d2369fe","duration":"PT3M56S","contentUrl":"https://video.media.yql.yahoo.com/v1/video/sapi/hlsstreams/56cf360d-1316-35a6-81eb-700dc4b7fb8e.m3u8?site=finance®ion=GB&lang=en-GB&devtype=desktop&src=sapi","embedUrl":"https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/video/two-best-positioned-megacap-tech-152233670.html?format=embed","identifier":"56cf360d-1316-35a6-81eb-700dc4b7fb8e"}

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