Bank of America Maintains ‘Buy’ on Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), Highlights Search & AI Growth

We recently compiled a list of the 12 Trending AI Stocks on Latest News and Ratings. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stands against the other trending AI stocks.

DeepSeek may have astounded the tech world following its emergence, but not everyone seems to be a fan. In the latest news report, Reuters reported that South Korea’s industry ministry temporarily blocked access to Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek due to security concerns. The government urges caution on generative AI services, particularly calling out ministries and agencies about using AI services such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek at work.

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State-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power reported blocking the use of AI services including DeepSeek earlier this month. The defense ministry has done the same for its computers that are for military use, reported officials. Yonhap News Agency has further reported restricting access to DeepSeek in computers that connect to external networks. South Korea, however, isn’t the only country that despises DeepSeek for its security vulnerabilities.

BBC has also reported on the matter, stating that Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices and systems. The country is concerned over the security risk the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup poses. Its government further insisted that the ban comes not because the startup is Chinese, but because of the “unacceptable risk” it poses to national security. The move specifically requires government entities to “prevent the use or installation of DeepSeek products, applications, and web services”, as well as remove any previously installed, on any government system or device. As a result, a wide range of workers won’t be able to use DeepSeek in the country.

Similarly, the US Navy has also banned the use of DeepSeek, as reported by CNBC last week. The Navy reportedly said that DeepSeek’s AI was not to be used “in any capacity” due to “potential security and ethical concerns associated with the model’s origin and usage.”

“We would like to bring to your attention a critical update regarding a new AI model called DeepSeek,” The memo said it’s “imperative” that team members do not use DeepSeek’s AI “for any work-related tasks or personal use.”

-The Navy’s warning to the distribution list OpNav, Operational Navy.

For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Jim on Alphabet (GOOGL): ‘Range-Bound but Still a Buy’

A laptop and phone open to Google’s services in an everyday setting.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 202

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company wholly owning the internet giant Google, amongst other businesses. One of the biggest analyst calls on Wednesday, February 5th, was for Alphabet Inc. Bank of America reiterated the stock as “Buy” with a $225 price target. The firm said it is sticking with its buy rating following the company’s “solid” earnings results on Tuesday. It said it is motivated by Search growth and that Wall Street may be underestimating the revenue potential of AI Overviews in 2025.

“We are encouraged to see another quarter of strong Search growth and think Street could be underestimating Al Overview benefits for Search monetization in 2025.”

Overall GOOG ranks 2nd on our list of the trending AI stocks on latest news and ratings. While we acknowledge the potential of GOOG as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GOOG but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stock To Buy Now and Complete List of All AI Companies Under $2 Billion Market Cap.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.