Apple is actively considering reshaping its Safari browser to incorporate AI-powered search tools, signaling a possible shift away from its profitable, longstanding default search partnership with Google. Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services, Eddy Cue, testified before the U.S. Department of Justice that Safari saw a decline in search usage for the first time in its 22-year history—a drop the company attributes to growing user adoption of AI search platforms.
Cue emphasized that Apple is in exploratory talks to bring AI-driven options into Safari, including systems from OpenAI (ChatGPT), Perplexity AI, and Anthropic. While Google would remain the default search engine for now, Apple plans to list these AI services as selectable alternatives.
The move poses a potential challenge to Google’s dominance and its lucrative $20 billion-per-year search deal with Apple, which is estimated to account for about 36% of Google’s ad revenue generated via Safari users. Google’s stock fell more than 7% following the disclosures, while Apple’s shares dipped by up to 2.5%, reflecting investor anxiety over the future of the agreement.
In parallel developments, reports indicate Apple has held early internal discussions exploring the potential acquisition of Perplexity, then valued at $14 billion, as part of its broader push into AI-powered search integration though no formal offer has been made.
While AI alternatives still have gaps in search indexing and reliability, Cue argued their features may already exceed traditional search experiences, making them increasingly appealing to users. As U.S. regulators consider remedies to Google’s market dominance, Apple’s evolving search strategy could be a significant inflection point for competition in the search engine space