Apple Inc. (AAPL, Financial) is evaluating the inclusion of various artificial intelligence (AI) search engines in its Safari browser, in response to a potential end to its lucrative $20 billion default search agreement with Google (GOOGL). Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of services, revealed during testimony in a U.S. Department of Justice case against Alphabet, Google's parent company, that AI technologies are altering user habits and causing a decline in Safari searches, as users pivot to AI tools.
Apple has engaged in discussions with new AI search service providers like Perplexity AI, DeepSeek, and Grok, and has incorporated OpenAI's ChatGPT into Siri. This move followed evaluations where Google proposed conditions Apple found unacceptable. Despite the allure of AI search, Google's financial contributions remain significant, as evidenced by their expanded collaboration last year, integrating Google Lens into iPhone's Visual Intelligence feature.
Apple's partnership with Microsoft's Bing has shifted to yearly updates, yet it remains a secondary option to Google in Safari. Cue suggests that in the next decade, technology may render iPhones obsolete, emphasizing the transformative impact of AI.
