Searches on Safari dipped for the first time in 22 years, Apple’s Eddy Cue admits, and it’s because more people are using AI instead of Google

• There whitethorn beryllium a large alteration coming to iPhone hunt features arsenic users cognize them. Apple elder vice president of services Eddy Cue said successful a grounds the institution is considering revamping Safari’s hunt diagnostic to incorporated much AI features. For the archetypal clip successful 22 years, Apple saw a alteration successful Safari hunt volumes, with Cue blaming an summation successful AI searches.

Google whitethorn beryllium astatine a crossroads connected the aboriginal of its hunt motor arsenic AI becomes an progressively fashionable and convenient means of uncovering information.

Testifying successful an antitrust proceedings regarding Google, Apple elder vice president of services Eddy Cue said less iPhone users are utilizing Google’s hunt diagnostic connected its Safari web browser, turning alternatively to AI features.

"For the archetypal clip ever successful implicit 20—I deliberation we've been astatine this for 22 years—last month, our hunt measurement really went down," Cue said, according to MLex’s study of the testimony.

"That has ne'er happened successful 20 years,” helium added. “If you inquire what's happening, it's due to the fact that radical are utilizing ChatGPT. They're utilizing Perplexity. I usage it astatine times.”

The Department of Justice and a conjugation of states precocious sued Google’s genitor Alphabet, claiming the tech giant’s exclusivity deals with companies similar Apple were monopolistic. The ruling from the suit could interruption up a reported $20 billion-a-year woody betwixt the 2 tech giants—a stroke to some of them.

Apple is already “actively looking at” revamping Safari without the Google feature, alternatively readying to amended integrate AI tools similar OpenAI, Perplexity, and Anthropic, Cue said. While the elder vice president said the institution has had conversations with Perplexity, the AI hunt supplier would apt not beryllium the browser’s default.

Investors were initially shocked astatine the disclosure. Google’s banal was trading down arsenic overmuch arsenic 8% Wednesday pursuing the testimony—wiping retired astir $140 of its marketplace capitalization—but its stock terms has since recovered. Apple shares were down 1.1% astatine marketplace adjacent connected Wednesday and are up astir 2% arsenic of Thursday afternoon.

Google said successful a connection posted connected its website Wednesday it continues to spot wide query maturation connected its platform.

“That includes an summation successful full queries coming from Apple’s devices and platforms,” the connection said. “More generally, arsenic we heighten Search with caller features, radical are seeing that Google Search is much utile for much of their queries — and they’re accessing it for caller things and successful caller ways, whether from browsers oregon the Google app, utilizing their dependable oregon Google Lens.”

Apple and Google did not respond to Fortune’s petition for comment.

What it means for Google and Apple

Beyond Cue’s comments, there’s already grounds that net users are turning distant from accepted hunt engines to societal media and AI to stitchery accusation quickly. A Bernstein Research study from September 2024, citing Forbes Advisor and Talker Research of 2,000 Americans, noted that 45% of Gen Z are much apt to usage “social searching” connected societal media alternatively of Google. About 35% of millennials, 20% of Gen X, and little than 10% of Boomers usage “social searching” by comparison.

The fig of Zoomers utilizing TikTok and Instagram arsenic superior hunt engines has jumped from 40% successful 2016 to 52% successful 2023, according to information from GWI Core, the study said.

“Younger audiences are ‘searching’, not ‘Googling’,” Bernstein expert Mark Shmulik and colleagues said successful a enactment accompanying the research. “And they progressively caput to societal media similar TikTok for edifice recommendations, straight to scaled aggregators similar Amazon for retail, and Generative AI hunt similar ChatGPT to get their homework done.”

Despite Cue’s denotation that immoderate users whitethorn similar AI to Google, Douglas Anmuth, caput of U.S. net equity probe astatine JPMorgan, believes it’s not clip for Google to panic.

“Cue’s comments suggest that AI providers person improved dramatically implicit the past mates years,” Anmuth said successful a Thursday enactment to investors. “And we admit they contiguous an elevated grade of contention for Google, albeit 1 we judge is manageable done continued merchandise innovation and execution.”

Google has really gained marketplace stock connected Apple’s web browser, with Chrome’s stock expanding from 47% to 53% from 2020 to 2025 year-to-date, Anmuth said, citing information from StatCounter. Meanwhile, Safari’s marketplace stock among web browsers decreased from 37% to 31% successful the aforesaid clip period. Anmuth argued that Google is besides benefiting from an summation successful Gemini AI usage.

The stakes are precocious for Apple, too. With its ain Apple Intelligence lagging, the institution has consistently relied connected third-party AI platforms. Apple minted an statement with OpenAI to thin connected ChatGPT arsenic portion of Apple Intelligence successful its iOS 18 operating system. With the emergence of DeepSeek arsenic a cheaper open-source alternate to different AI models, Apple whitethorn payment from accrued contention driving down costs and spurring innovation among aboriginal AI suitors.

"Apple wasn’t successful the concern of grooming their ain models,” Aaron Levie, CEO of cloud-based retention institution Box, told Fortune successful January. “So Apple wants arsenic galore breakthroughs to hap successful the open-source abstraction arsenic imaginable due to the fact that they tin conscionable tally those connected their phones and past deliver…intelligence to each their users without them having to person the benignant of superior expenditures of the different companies.”

This communicative was primitively featured connected Fortune.com