For the first time in 22 years, searches on Apple’s Safari browser have gone down. That’s according to Apple’s Senior Vice President Eddy Cue, who told a federal judge that Safari usage took a hit last month, The Verge reports.

During a court hearing related to Google’s antitrust case, Cue pointed to AI as the reason behind the drop. “I believe that AI search providers will eventually replace standard search engines like Google,” Cue said. He suggested that users are moving toward AI tools like ChatGPT for direct answers, instead of typing queries into a search engine.

Apple weighs new search partners as Google deal comes under pressure

Google is still the default search engine on Safari. Google reportedly pays Apple around $20 billion a year to remain the default, which analysts estimate is about 36% of the ad revenue generated from searches on Safari. But that deal is now under scrutiny. U.S. regulators are calling for a ban on these kinds of default search engine agreements as part of possible antitrust penalties. 

The Justice Department has proposed forcing Google to sell off Chrome and take other steps that could change its search dominance, including its relationship with Apple. Judge Amit Mehta is expected to rule on the matter by August.

With the case still ongoing, Apple says it will consider other AI search options like Perplexity and Anthropic. Cue confirmed that Apple is in talks with Perplexity and has had internal conversations about expanding its AI search capabilities. ChatGPT is already an option in Siri.

However, Cue said Apple’s current position is complicated. He noted that he has “lost a lot of sleep” over what it would mean to lose Google’s revenue share, even as AI search alternatives continue to gain traction. Despite these concerns, he also said that Google still offers Apple “the best financial terms.”

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