Microsoft became the world’s largest company for a brief spell as excitement over its AI-associate OpenAI sent its value up to US$2.88 billion.
It didn’t last long, however, with long-time number one Apple regaining the top spot as shares in Microsoft eased back after the opening burst.
In contrast to Microsoft, sentiment has been moving against the iPhone maker since the start of the year due to concerns over sales of smartphones in China and the US.
Apple, which at one time was valued at more than US$3trillion, has dropped to US$2.87 tn while at the time of writing Redmond-based Microsoft was trading at US382.80 valuing it a shad below its rival at US$2.84bn.
Microsoft edged out Apple as the most valuable public company in 2018 and 2021.
However, Apple would go on to become the first company to cross the $3 trillion market cap threshold. Saudi Aramco also briefly held the title before Apple reclaimed it.
Shares in Microsoft have risen by around 60% over the past twelve months due primarily to its investment in ChatGPT developer Open AI and also its cloud business.