June 12 (Reuters) - Apple once again became the world's most valuable company on Wednesday, dethroning Microsoft from the top spot, as the iPhone maker pushed ahead in a race to dominate artificial intelligence technology.

Apple's shares rose nearly 2% to $211.10, giving it a market valuation of $3.24 trillion. Microsoft's market capitalization stood at $3.23 trillion, falling behind Apple for the first time in five months. (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)