Google logo is displayed in front of company headquarters during the Made By Google event on August 13, 2024 in Mountain View, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Stocktwits’ retail sentiment toward Alphabet, Inc. (GOOGL) (GOOG) shares remained bearish on Wednesday morning amid the recent macro and geopolitics-induced broader market weakness. 

The stock could see some activity amid rumors concerning a potential merger and acquisitions (M&A) transaction and the Google parent’s stake in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

A Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter, said Google is in advanced discussions to buy eye-tracking technology from AdHawk Microsystems for $115 million, including $15 million in performance-based future payments. 

The report said the agreement to acquire the Canadian startup will likely be completed this week. 

Bloomberg said the rumored acquisition will give Alphabet a big push into headsets and smart glasses.

AdHawk Microsystems promotes itself as a provider of full-stack eye-tracker solutions, from silicon to cloud services. Investors in the company include the venture capital arms of Sony, Intel, HP, Inc., and Samsung. 

A separate New York Times report said Alphabet already owns 14% of Anthropic, the company behind the Claude large-language model. The report noted that Anthropic disclosed this in a legal filing done in connection with the Department of Justice's (DOJ) antitrust case against Google. 

The filings also showed that Google did not have any voting rights, board seats, or observer rights at Anthropic, and the former can raise its stake only up to 15%. Google is looking to invest an additional $750 million in the startup in September through investment in convertible notes. 

So far, Google has invested about $2 billion in Anthropic as the AI race heats up.

Alphabet recently got a slight reprieve in its longstanding DOJ lawsuit. In its filings with the Columbia District Court, the federal agency said it would no longer seek the sale of the search giant’s AI investments, reasoning that it may cause unintended consequences in the evolving AI space.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward Alphabet stock stayed ‘bearish’ (32/100), and the message volume remained ‘low.’

A bearish watcher said the DOJ investigation deterred them from holding the stock.

In premarket trading, Alphabet stock rose 1.36% to $166.10. Since the start of the year, it has lost over 13%.

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