• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, Yesterday

Amid fallout from Google's monopoly search trial, Apple is considering integrating AI search into its browser.

Apple Inc. is “actively looking at” reshaping the Safari web browser on its devices to focus on AI-powered search engines considering the potential collapse of its Google deal and broader industry shifts.

Eddy Cue, Apple senior vice president of services, said the company is "actively looking" at reshaping the Safari web browser to focus on AI-powered search, because of changes that may need to be made based on the outcome of Google's U.S. Department of Justice remedies.

Cue disclosures the possible changes Wednesday during his testimony in the US Justice Department’s lawsuit against Alphabet, reported Bloomberg. 

Apple and Google have a deal worth about $20 billion a year. The deal makes Google the default offer for queries in Apple’s browser included.

Last year, Apple also expanded its deal with Google to include its visual technology Lens, which allows a user to take a picture and Google AI analyzes it to provide insights and more information. It is part of the Visual Intelligence feature on the latest iPhones.

Just as interesting, Cue reported noted searches on Safari fell for the first time last month in 22 years. He attributed the dip to people using AI.

Fewer searches mean less advertising revenue for Apple.

Cue expects OpenAI, Perplexity AI, Anthropic, and other AI engines like Copilot to eventually replace traditional search engines like Google -- as do I.

Apple had some discussions with Perplexity, Bloomberg reported. Cue also expects Apple in the future to add other AI search options in Safari, though probably will not become the default.

Apple offers ChatGPT integration in its products as of the iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS 15.2 updates, released in December 2024. The offering was announced in June 2024.

Google also is expected to work with Apple on integrating Gemini into the iPhone by the end of 2025.