Apple’s Eddy Cue made some bold and thought-provoking predictions during his testimony at the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DoJ) lawsuit against Google’s parent company, Alphabet. As Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services, Cue touched on the future of artificial intelligence (AI) in search engines and mobile technology. He stated that the next decade will bring substantial shifts, particularly in how we use search engines and smartphones.
Cue suggested that AI-powered search engines could eventually replace Google. Apple is already looking into integrating AI search into Safari, its web browser. The company has reportedly been in discussions with several AI companies, including OpenAI, Perplexity, and Anthropic. However, he clarified that these AI services wouldn’t immediately replace Google as the default search engine on Apple devices. According to Cue, AI technology still requires further development before it can fully replace traditional search engines like Google.
He also emphasized that AI represents a major technological shift that might render existing search engines like Google obsolete. “AI is a new technology shift, creating opportunities for new players,” he said. Cue pointed out that just as Apple disrupted the music industry by phasing out the iPod in favor of the iPhone, future technology shifts could do the same to smartphones. He boldly predicted that iPhones might be replaced in the next ten years.
In another notable revelation, Cue shared that search query volumes on Apple devices had declined for the first time in over two decades. This drop, according to Cue, is partly due to the increasing popularity of AI tools like ChatGPT. Google, however, quickly disputed this claim. The company stated that overall search query volumes were still growing, including on Apple devices.
This testimony comes amid an ongoing legal battle over Google’s dominance in the search engine market. The DoJ’s lawsuit accuses Google of anticompetitive practices, with Apple’s deal to make Google the default search engine on iPhones at the heart of the case. The DoJ is also proposing that Google sell Chrome, with OpenAI expressing interest in purchasing it.
As the legal proceedings continue, the debate over AI search replacing Google intensifies. Apple appears to be preparing for an AI-driven future, potentially disrupting both search engines and smartphones as we know them. The potential shift away from traditional search engines and the obsolescence of the iPhone will likely shape the next decade of technology development.
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