- Apple is reportedly looking to make AI tools the default search option for Safari
- Google is the current default search engine for Safari in a $20B-a-year deal
- Apple sees the AI as possibly more appealing to users for search purposes
Apple is flirting with the idea of making AI tools the default search option for Safari instead of Google. As first reported by Bloomberg, Apple’s services chief Eddy Cue revealed during testimony this week in the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust trial against Google that Apple is “actively looking at” bringing AI-powered search engines as a Google replacement.
Apple and Google currently have a mutually beneficial and lucrative deal where Google pays Apple around $20 billion a year to remain the default search engine across all Apple devices. That deal was part of the antitrust scrutiny, which led to the revelation of Apple’s interest in alternatives.
Eddy Cue mentioned several major AI chatbot developers as potential new search partners for Apple, including OpenAI, Perplexity, Anthropic, and xAI. Cue told the court that searches on Safari actually declined last month for the first time in recent memory, and his theory is that people are starting to swap out standard search engines for AI tools. Instead of typing in “how does Wi-Fi work?” into a search bar, users are asking ChatGPT to explain it like they’re five.
Cue wasn’t exactly subtle in hinting that Apple thinks traditional search might be on the way out. “The only way you truly have true competition is when you have technology shifts,” he said. “AI is a new technology shift, and it’s creating new opportunities for new entrants.”
Apple AI search
Apple’s already dipped its toes into AI search, linking Siri to ChatGPT and supposedly planning to do the same with Google Gemini. Cue also noted that Apple’s open to adding multiple AI search options directly into Safari, though no decision about a new default was mentioned.
AI search tools have some good points, but they come with glaring weaknesses. In particular, they can respond with incomplete, inaccurate, or downright hallucinatory information. Whether those issues are worth the advantages of AI search tools is debatable, but Apple clearly thinks it might be a worthwhile change to make. After all, if people are okay switching from Google to AI tools because they’re easier, and despite their errors, that’s the direction any company would want to follow.
And there’s a reason Google has been willing to pay so much for its status on Apple devices. That user base is crucial to its search dominance. Just hinting that it might not be the case forever sent Google’s stock dropping nearly 9% after Cue’s testimony. Apple shares slipped too, but much more modestly.
None of this may matter if Apple decides it has a good thing with Google as a company and makes Gemini its default search tool with a similar deal. And while AI still can’t quite be trusted to write a college essay or navigate the DMV website, it’s already reshaping how we expect to interact with information. That means the tools we use to access that information are going to evolve in a way they haven’t since perhaps the widespread adoption of mobile versions of websites.
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