The long-standing question of whether artificial intelligence could one day disrupt Google’s search empire may finally be moving from speculation to reality.
Apple executive Eddy Cue testified on Wednesday that web searches on the company’s Safari browser declined in April — marking the first time Apple has seen a drop in that area. Cue attributed the decline to people increasingly turning to AI tools instead of traditional search engines.
He shared this during his appearance in the ongoing federal antitrust trial against Google’s parent company, Alphabet. The case focuses on Google’s multibillion-dollar payments to Apple, which ensure Google remains the default search engine on Apple devices. According to Cue, Apple receives over $20 billion a year through that agreement.
While on the stand, Cue said Apple expects to introduce AI-based search tools — such as OpenAI, Perplexity AI, and Anthropic — as alternative options within Safari. “We will add them to the list — they probably won’t be the default,” he said, noting these services still need time to improve.
Cue also suggested these AI engines could eventually take the place of traditional search services like Google.
His comments come at a time when AI companies are attracting massive investments from those hoping they’ll be able to cut into Google’s dominance in the search market — a business that plays a central role in Alphabet’s $2 trillion valuation.
Google, meanwhile, has been integrating its own AI product, Gemini, into its search results. Despite criticism and early missteps, the company says it’s seeing positive momentum. On a recent earnings call, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said: “Nearly a year after we launched AI Overviews in the US, we continue to see that usage growth is increasing as people learn that Search is more useful for more of their queries.”
Still, following Cue’s testimony, Alphabet shares fell more than 7% on Wednesday.
Later in the day, Google issued a statement disputing Cue’s suggestion that AI is cutting into search usage. The company said it continues to observe “overall query growth in search.”
“That includes an increase in total queries coming from Apple’s devices and platforms,” the statement said.
If Apple — a company known for playing the long game — is preparing to integrate AI tools like OpenAI and Perplexity into its ecosystem, it signals that we’re at the beginning of a major platform shift. Cue even said that while these AI tools aren’t ready to be defaults yet, they’re headed in that direction. For Google, that’s a red flag with a blinking light.
Google’s dominance in search wasn’t built on loyalty alone; it was built on placement. Being the default across Apple devices secured billions in ad revenue and cemented user habits. If Apple starts opening the door to new players — even as secondary options — it gives those companies something they’ve never had before: real estate on the front lines of user behavior.
It’s also telling that this change is happening quietly. No press event. No splashy feature rollout. Just a trend that’s visible in usage data — the kind of shift that catches incumbents off guard, not with a bang, but with a subtle redirection of traffic.
To be clear, AI isn’t going to dethrone traditional search overnight. Many people still prefer the structure and precision of curated search results. But if even a small percentage of queries start flowing toward AI engines, the ripple effect could be huge — not just for Google, but for the entire search-advertising ecosystem.
It also raises important questions about how we define search in the AI era. Are we looking for links or answers? Pages or summaries? AI doesn’t just change where users go — it changes what they expect to receive when they get there.
Cue’s remarks, though brief, are a bellwether. They hint at a quiet realignment of user habits and corporate strategies. And if the companies building these AI tools can improve fast enough — in accuracy, speed, and trustworthiness — they may not just be alternatives to search. They could become the new standard.
The era of search as we know it might not end with a dramatic collapse, but with a slow redirection — query by query — into a very different future.
