Google is in antitrust court, fighting to preserve the search engine business that has made it so historically successful. At a few different moments through the various stages of the trial, high-powered executives from Apple have taken the stand - and largely taken Google's side. Just this week, Apple's Eddy Cue made the case that Google is actually in a hugely competitive market, is no longer the unstoppable force it once was, and should be largely left alone.
If it seems odd that Apple and Google would be aligned, here's a number to keep in mind: 20,000,000,000. That's how many dollars Google pays Apple every year, as part of a revenue-sharing deal that makes Google the default search engine in Safari. Even as Cue talks about Google searches going down in Safari, and how AI might cannibalize search and the iPhone and everything, it's important to keep that $20 billion paycheck in mind.
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On this episode of The Vergecast, Nilay, David, and The Verge's Richard Lawler discuss Cue's testimony, what it means that Google searches are going down in Safari, and whether the whole "AI chat will replace search" thin …
Read the full story at The Verge.
