For the first time in 22 years, Google searches experienced a decline in Safari, as stated by Apple’s senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue, during Google’s antitrust trial on Wednesday. “This has never happened before,” Cue remarked.
Cue attributed this drop in searches to the increasing prevalence of AI, which Apple is now contemplating integrating into Safari. The popularity of AI-driven search tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot may lead users to rely less on Google for information retrieval.
Currently, Google compensates Apple approximately $20 billion to have its search engine set as the default in Safari. A decline in searches could potentially impact Apple’s revenue from this partnership. “I’ve lost a lot of sleep over this,” Cue admitted, reflecting on what Apple might do without the financial support from Google Search.
The Verge reached out to Google for a comment but has yet to receive a response.
