How Apple is Challenging Google with AI Search Options
AI is changing how users discover information online.
With traditional keyword-based search being supplemented – and potentially replaced – by conversational AI assistants capable of synthesising information from multiple sources.
As a result, venture capital has poured billions into AI startups developing alternative search mechanisms that promise more nuanced and contextual results than conventional engines.
Now Apple is “actively looking at” transforming its Safari web browser to incorporate AI-powered search engines, according to Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services during his testimony in the US Justice Department’s lawsuit against Alphabet.
This shift comes as the company's estimated US$20bn annual agreement with Google faces scrutiny from the US Justice Department.
The partnership, which makes Google the default search engine on Apple devices, could be forced to unwind following legal challenges.
How Google’s partnership with OpenAI impacts AI implementation
Beyond legal pressures, consumer behaviour is already changing.
Eddy notes that searches on Safari decreased for the first time last month, which he attributes to people using AI alternatives.
“We will add them to the list — they probably won't be the default,” he says regarding AI search providers, indicating these services still need refinement before potentially replacing traditional search engines.
Meanwhile, Apple currently offers OpenAI’s ChatGPT as an option within its Siri digital assistant, yet the company expects to add Google’s Gemini AI search product later this year.
Eddy reveales that Apple considered multiple AI providers before partnering with OpenAI, as the agreement with OpenAI allows Apple to integrate other AI providers into its operating system, including Apple's own solutions.
“Prior to AI, my feeling around this was, none of the others were valid choices,” Eddy says.
“I think today there is much greater potential because there are new entrants attacking the problem in a different way.”
Before selecting ChatGPT for inclusion in Apple Intelligence in iOS 18, Eddy describes a “bake-off” with Google.
He stated that Google had provided terms “that had a lot of things Apple wouldn't agree to and didn't agree to with OpenAI”.
The competition against Google
According to Bloomberg, Eddy says he believes AI search providers will eventually supplant standard search engines like Google, noting that Apple has held discussions with Perplexity specifically.
For these AI alternatives to improve, Eddy says they would need to enhance their search indices – databases of web content that power search results.
However, he also suggests Apple’s other features are already “so much better that people will switch” even before their indices reach Google’s scale.
“The only way you truly have true competition is when you have technology shifts. Technology shifts create these opportunities,” Eddie says.
“AI is a new technology shift and it's creating new opportunities for new entrants.” He also suggests the pace of change could be dramatic: “You may not need an iPhone 10 years from now as crazy as it sounds.”
Despite these forward-looking statements, Eddy maintains that Google should remain the default search engine in Safari for now.
“There's enough money now, enough large players, that I don't see how it doesn't happen,” Eddy says.
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