Is Google Still the Default Search Engine? Apple Says the Shift Has Begun
Work News | New Stardom
Google searches via Safari have declined for the first time in over 20 years, Apple told the DOJ. Tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are changing how professionals access knowledge and what that means for work.
Photo by Nathana Rebouças
Just this week, during a high-stakes antitrust trial against Google, Apple confirmed Google searches via the Safari browser are declining.
Apple’s SVP of Services, Eddy Cue, testified under oath that Safari users are conducting fewer searches through Google, and attributed the trend in part to the increased use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Perplexity. The disclosure marked a significant moment in the trial and in market history. Following Cue’s remarks, Alphabet’s shares dropped over 7.5%, the sharpest decline since January.
As the Wall Street Journal framed it in yesterday’s titles: “AI’s threat to Google just got real.”
For professionals, the shift in search behavior is increasingly practical. Tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are being used to streamline tasks, from quick research to drafting outlines or gathering context. The habit of opening a browser and typing into Google is gradually being replaced by direct interaction with AI. That change is already influencing how people work and raising new questions around AI literacy in the workplace.
The Quiet Fragmentation of Search
This isn’t a collapse of search, and it’s not (yet) a full-blown migration away from Google. But the fragmentation is real.
Meanwhile, ChatGPT has crossed 600 million monthly active users, Perplexity now handles 100 million+ queries weekly, and even Google’s own AI tool, Gemini, has 350 million users, many of whom arrive through integrations rather than search bars.
The rise of these tools is changing where and how people search. AI platforms deliver synthesized responses, often without linking out, a shift from Google’s “ten blue links” model that dominated the last two decades.
Is AI Replacing Google?
Not so fast, say some analysts. In a breakdown published by Investopedia, tech editors asked: “Will AI really be the demise of Google Search?” Their answer: probably not, at least not soon. Many queries still rely on web-based results, especially those tied to current events, shopping, or maps.
And as Quartz pointed out this week, the selloff in Alphabet shares may be premature. Jefferies analysts urged investors not to overreact and warning that Cue’s comment may serve Apple’s legal narrative more than it reflects total user behavior.
That’s a key consideration. And as The Verge reported, Apple is still defending its $20 billion per-year deal with Google, which makes Google the default search engine on Safari. By saying users are increasingly bypassing Google anyway, Apple may be undermining the DOJ’s case, not just making a neutral observation.
A Life After Google?
For many knowledge workers, this shift means relying less on search queries and more on AI tools that anticipate the next step, so drafting emails, summarizing PDFs, rewriting job descriptions, or answering strategic questions in real time.
As this becomes normalized across industries, it raises new expectations about digital fluency and AI literacy in the workplace. It’s one reason HR leaders are now being urged to take AI training seriously. The tools are here, the question is whether teams know how to use them well.
Rethinking the Starting Point
Google is still a critical platform, but it’s no longer the uncontested starting point for every question. That position is slowly being redistributed across a new generation of AI-driven interfaces that are built around conversation, not search syntax.
Cue’s testimony didn’t declare a winner or a collapse. But it did offer something rare: confirmation from inside one of Google’s most important distribution channels that the search era is being rewritten. For weekly updates on how AI is reshaping the way we work, search, and think follow New Stardom and submit your take to our Opinion column.
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