In court testimony yesterday, Apple SVP Eddy Cue told the judge that usage of search in Safari fell for the first time ever in April, suggesting users are turning to AI alternatives like ChatGPT instead.This led to Google investors getting cold feet on the search giant’s outlook, with the company stock dropping about 8% in response.However, Google has now formally contested Cue’s comments in a company blog post.
Google released a short statement on its blog that seems to run counter to what Cue said yesterday.Google said that it continues to see increasing engagement with search, including on Apple devices.Here’s what Google said in full: While there isn’t enough detail to fully explain the discrepancy, perhaps Cue was referring to usage inside Safari and Google is suggesting that usage through other means on Apple’s platforms — through Google’s apps in the App Store for instance — makes up for that gap.
It’s also worth noting that Cue made his comments in the context of a court hearing over whether the lucrative Apple-Google search deal should be allowed to continue, under the guise of whether Google has an anticompetitive monopoly on the search market.Obviously, Apple wants that deal to remain in place, as it profits tens of billions of dollars per year from the enterprise.So, it is in Cue’s interests to depict the deal as outmoded and increasingly irrelevant, such that it is not monopolistic in nature and should remain.
Cue also indicated that Apple would be adding alternative AI-powered search providers like Anthropic and Perplexity to Safari as search engine options in the coming months. You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day.Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop.
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