Eddy Cue, Apple Senior Vice President: "Safari search volume declined for the first time last month"
"No reason not to switch to AI-based search"... Google shares plunge over 7%
A senior executive at Apple has stated that artificial intelligence (AI)-based search will replace traditional search engines like Google, and revealed that the company is considering a major overhaul of the iPhone’s web browser to focus on AI features.
On May 7 (local time), Bloomberg reported that Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services, testified as a witness at a federal court in Washington, D.C., in a trial aimed at breaking up Google’s monopoly in the online search market, where he made these remarks.
Cue said, “Last month, for the first time, search volume on Safari declined,” diagnosing this as a result of users increasingly turning to AI. Safari is the web browser for iPhone. Google is the default search engine on Safari, and in relation to this, Google and Apple have a contract worth $20 billion per year as of 2022.
Cue stated, “AI-based search providers such as OpenAI, Perplexity, and Anthropic will eventually replace existing search engines like Google,” and added, “The AI services from these companies will be added as options that users can choose in Safari in the future.” He continued, “However, AI models still need improvement,” and clarified, “Even if these AI options are added, they will not be set as the default search engine. For now, I believe Google should remain the default search engine on Safari.”
Currently, Apple offers OpenAI’s ChatGPT as an option for its voice assistant Siri. Cue also mentioned that Apple has held discussions not only with ChatGPT but also with Perplexity. He said, “Even if the improvement of AI models is not rapid at the moment, the other features they provide are excellent, so people will use them,” and added, “With sufficient funding and the involvement of large companies, there is no reason users would not switch from traditional search to AI-based search.” He further stated, “As large language models (LLMs), which are the core technology of generative AI, continue to advance, there will be even more reasons to attract users to AI-based search.”
Bloomberg pointed out that Apple’s focus on AI-based search engines could signal the end of its long-standing partnership with Google. As a result, shares of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, plunged by more than 7% at the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange that day.
Meanwhile, regarding the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Google in the online search market, the court ruled in favor of the Department of Justice in August of last year. Consequently, the Department of Justice has proposed that Google be forced to sell Chrome and share search data with competitors, and the court is expected to decide on measures to resolve the monopoly by August this year.
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