Apple and DuckDuckGo held talks about replacing Google as the default search engine for private browsing mode in Safari. The details of the talks will be released later this week after a judge ordered the unsealing of testimony from DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg and Apple executive John Giannandrea.
The talks between Apple and DuckDuckGo are significant because DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search engine that does not track users’ search activity. This would be a major change for apple, as Google has been the default search engine for Safari for over a decade.
It is unclear what the outcome of the talks between Apple and DuckDuckGo will be. However, if apple does decide to switch to DuckDuckGo as the default search engine for private mode in Safari, it would be a major victory for privacy advocates.
Judge Amit Mehta, who is overseeing a federal antitrust suit against Google, has ordered the unsealing of testimony from DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg and Apple executive John Giannandrea. This testimony is expected to reveal details of talks between both of them about replacing Google as the default search engine for private browsing mode in Safari. The testimony is also expected to shed light on potential deals between Microsoft and Apple and between both.
Apple, DuckDuckGo, and Google did not respond right away when Reuters asked them to comment.
In a landmark US trial last month, the Justice Department alleged that Google, which controls about 90% of the search market, illegally paid $10 billion a year to smartphone makers like Apple and wireless carriers like AT&T to ensure that Google is the default search engine on their devices.
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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified on Monday that tech giants are racing to acquire the massive amounts of data needed to train AI and that Google is using exclusive deals with publishers to lock up this data.
He also said that Microsoft had tried to make Bing the default search engine on these smartphones but refused.