Google’s parent company soared past a $2 trillion valuation last night as the search engine giant said it would pay a dividend for the first time. Shares in Alphabet rose by more than 12pc to a record high as the company announced the payout to shareholders, alongside a $70bn (£56bn) share buyback scheme. Microsoft shares also rose after the world’s most valuable company revealed record profits. It meant both tech giants shrugged off a tech sell-off earlier in the day triggered by fears about the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. Alphabet reported revenues of $80.5bn for the first quarter of the year, a 15pc rise, and said profits had climbed by 57pc to $23.7bn. It said it would pay shareholders a quarterly dividend of 20 cents a share, amounting to a payout of more than $2.5bn, and that it planned to continue paying quarterly cash dividends in the future. It comes after Meta said it would pay its first dividend in February. Microsoft shares climbed by more than 5pc after sales jumped on growing demand for its AI technology. Quarterly revenues rose 17pc to $61.9bn while profits were up 20pc, at $21.9bn. Google has faced questions about whether it is falling...