Apple Announces Plans to Add AI Search to Safari, Potentially Threatening Google’s Ad Revenue

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Google’s search engine dominance may be on the way out, after Apple announced on May 7 that it is “actively looking at” using artificial intelligence (AI)-powered search engines in its Safari browser.

According to Bloomberg, Apple’s senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue, shared the news while testifying during the U.S. Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc.

The announcement poses a potential major threat to Google’s monopoly, as it has been the go-to search engine since the iPhone was first introduced in 2007.

Following the news, Alphabet’s shares fell 7.3%, erasing almost $150 billion from its market value, Reuters reported.

Cue said during his testimony that in April, Safari searches dropped because more people were using generative AI, and Apple shares fell 1.1%. Currently, Google pays Apple around $20 billion a year to be Apple’s default mobile search engine on the iPhone.  

Cue also stated that other AI search providers, including OpenAI and Perplexity, will likely eventually replace regular search engines like Google and said Apple was already in discussions with Perplexity.

D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria told Reuters, “Many advertisers have all of their search advertising with Google because it is practically a monopoly with almost 90% share. If there were other viable alternatives for search, many advertisers could move much of their ad budgets away from Google.”

However, Google issued a statement following Cue’s testimony denying his claims and stating, in part, “We continue to see overall query growth in Search. That includes an increase in total queries coming from Apple’s devices and platforms.”

Following Google’s announcement, Alphabet stock rose 2% on May 8.