Apple is “actively studying” to reformulate the safari browser on its devices to focus on AI -driven search engines, in light of the potential collapse of its agreement with Google and the broader changes in the industry.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, revealed on Wednesday during his statement in the US Department of Justice process against Alphabet. The core of the dispute is the estimated $ 20 billion agreement between Apple and Google, which makes Google the default offer for Apple -included browser queries.
He also noted that the searches in Safari fell for the first time last month, which attributed to the use of AI by people. Cue said he believed that AI search providers, including OpenAi, perplexity AI and Anthropic, will eventually replace standard search engines such as Google. He said he believes Apple will add these players as options in Safari in the future.
“We will add them to the list – they will probably not be the standards,” he said, adding that they still need to improve. Cue specifically mentioned that the company had some discussions with perplexity.
“Before IA, my feeling was that none of the other options was valid,” said Cue. “I think today there is much greater potential because there are new entrances attacking the problem in a different way.”
Apple currently offers OpenAI chatgpt as an option on Siri and expects to add Gemini, Google’s AI search product later this year. Cue said Apple also studied Anthropic, Perplexity, Deepseek and Grok for that purpose. Cue stated that the agreement with OpenAi allows Apple to add other AI providers to the company’s operating system, including its own.
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Alphabet’s shares fell up to 7% on Wednesday, dragging the market down. Apple’s shares also plummeted after Cue’s comments, falling up to 2.5%. The S&P 500 index fell briefly, erasing an earlier gain that had exceeded 0.5%.
Before ChatgPT was chosen last year as part of the IOS 18 Apple Intelligence, there was a “competition” with Google, said Cue. He stated that Google had provided a sheet of terms that “had many things that Apple would not agree and did not agree with OpenAi.”
Technology is quickly changing to the point that people can not use the same devices in a few years, said Cue. “You may not need an iPhone in 10 years, as crazy as it may seem,” he said. “The only way you really have a true competition is when there are technological changes. Technological changes create these opportunities. AI is a new technological change and is creating new opportunities for new entrances.”
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Cue said that, to improve, the players I would need to improve their search rates. But even if it doesn’t happen quickly, they have other features that are “so much better than people will change.”
“There is enough money now, with great players, which I don’t see how it doesn’t happen,” he said, referring to the transition from standard AI searches.
Cue also stated that the great models of language – the underlying technology for the Generative AI – will continue to improve, giving users more reason to change.
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However, he believes Google should remain standard in Safari, saying he lost sleep with the possibility of losing participation in the revenue of his agreement. He stated that Apple’s agreement with Google today about regular search still has the best financial terms.
Last year, companies expanded their agreement to include Google Lens integration as part of the visual intelligence feature in the last iPhones. This allows a user to take a photo and use Google’s AI to analyze it. Cue also mentioned that his agreement with Microsoft Bing – a non -standard Safari option – was recently changed to be year by year.
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