Apple considered ditching Google for DuckDuckGo in Safari’s private mode

Enlarge / Apple AI executive and former Google search lead John Giannandrea. (credit: Steve Jennings / TechCrunch / Flickr)

In iOS 17, Apple recently made it easier to use alternatives to Google search in private browsing mode—but the company considered going even further by making DuckDuckGo, which is marketed as a more private alternative, the default choice in that context.

As reported by Bloomberg's Leah Nylen, the information came to light when Amit Mehta, the US District Judge who is handling the US antitrust trial over Google search, unsealed transcripts of testimonies by DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg and Apple SVP of machine learning and AI strategy John Giannandrea. Giannandrea worked as Google's head of search before his current role at Apple.

Weinberg claimed in his testimony that his company had 20 or so meetings with Apple about the possibility and that he believed the change would happen based on prior DuckDuckGo integrations make their way into Safari. He even said this was the one proposed integration that didn't make it "all the way through the finish line."