Apple AI chief, John Giannandrea, highlighted a significant change in the latest iPhone software update during his testimony in the Justice Department’s antitrust suit against Google. The iOS 17 update now allows users to choose a search engine other than Google when browsing the internet in private mode. This change makes it easier for iPhone users to switch between Google and another search engine with a single tap. The difficulty of switching search engines has been a point of contention in the antitrust suit, with Google claiming it is easy for users to change search engines in a matter of seconds. However, Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of rival search engine DuckDuckGo, testified that Google’s default status on browsers acts as a barrier to user switching. Google’s contract with Apple makes it the default search engine in Safari, and in exchange, Google pays Apple a significant amount of revenue from advertising. In private mode, Google will still be the default search engine, but users now have the option to choose Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Ecosia for private browsing.
