As an almost $2 trillion dollar company with excellent financials, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, GOOGL) is popular with both retail and institutional investors alike. Today, shares of GOOGL stock are in the red upon entering the midpoint of the trading week, however. Still, GOOGL stock is up over 7% for the past one month as technology companies in general recover from a dip earlier in March.
With that in mind, let’s jump into some of the top Google headlines that investors should be watching this week. They include spinoff news and fully self-driving cars, among other things.
GOOG, GOOGL Stock News: Top Headlines of the Week
Google’s Waymo prepares fully driverless vehicles in San Francisco
To start, Waymo — a subsidiary of Alphabet — announced yesterday that it’s preparing a rollout of fully driverless vehicles in San Francisco. However, Waymo did not give an exact timeline as to when this rollout will occur. Last August, the company had started giving free autonomous rides to users in its Jaguar electric vehicles (EV) with safety drivers on board.
Earlier this month, Waymo received permits from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) which will now allow it to offer paid autonomous rides with a safety driver on board. The permit marks a key step in “deploying a fully autonomous commercial service.”
Google’s Sandbox to spin off as a separate entity
Sandbox, also a subsidiary of Google, has also been in headlines this week. That’s because it will spin off as an independent company. Sandbox operates as a quantum computing and artificial intelligence (AI) company. It was founded in 2016 as an independent division of Google.
Relating to the spinoff, Sandbox received a “‘nine-figure’ funding round” from investors like T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ:TROW) and Guggenheim Partners. However, it did not disclose the total amount and terms of funding. CEO Jack Hidary will remain CEO after the spinoff occurs.
Russia cracks down on YouTube
Although Google has ceased its advertising operations in Russia, YouTube is still active. However, Russian citizens may not be able to use the platform for much longer. Last week, YouTube “banned a channel from Russia’s Ministry of Defense.” This was because the Ministry posted two videos in which it called the invasion of Ukraine a “liberation mission.” YouTube also banned Russia’s military from posting videos for seven days. In a statement, YouTube explained:
“Our policies prohibit content denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events, including Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.”
Now, it seems that the company’s actions may potentially earn it a ban from Russia. The nation has already banned both Meta Platforms’ (NASDAQ:FB) Facebook and Instagram. Russia has also “throttled the performance” of Twitter (NYSE:TWTR).
Lawsuit alleges that Google discriminates against Black employees
Finally, one former Google employee is taking her grievances to court, alleging that the company engaged in racial discrimination against Black workers.
The plaintiff, April Curley, was hired by the company as a diversity recruiter back in 2014. Curley alleges that Google places Black workers into “lower-level and lower-paid jobs” and that workers are subjected to a “hostile work environment” if they speak out. Curley also claims that she was “unlawfully fired” in 2020 after calling for reform. The lawsuit was filed last Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
