Apple examined the possibility of purchasing the Bing search engine, pumping a "multibillion dollar investment" into a joint venture with Microsoft, and other possibilities in 2018. According to a released transcript of Apple's head of machine learning and former Google exec John Giannandrea's testimony, a document inside the company listed four potential paths to collaborate with Microsoft - organically increasing Siri, using something titled "Knowledge Graph', sharing ownership of Bing, and buying Bing outright.
In 2018, Apple was assessing the possibility of purchasing the Bing search engine or investing several billions of dollars in a joint venture with Microsoft. This was according to the unsealed transcribed testimony of John Giannandrea, then-head of machine learning for Apple and a former Google employee. As previously reported, Google reimburses Apple up to $19 billion annually for Google being the default search engine in iPhones and Macs. Ultimately, Giannandrea claimed Apple CEO Tim Cook told Microsoft the deal was off. Giannandrea's testimony had been taken as part of the Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit against Google.
In addition, a presentation from Apple's head of business development, Adrian Perica, noted four potential arrangements between Apple and Microsoft: Growing Siri autonomously; collaborating on the “Knowledge Graph” technology; co-owning Bing; or acquiring Bing. Wednesday, DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg's released testimony presented his suspicion that Apple was intent on exploiting their rival search engine plus the “obstacle” posed by their contract with Google. Google has denied any violation of antitrust laws.
Throughout the trial, much attention has been paid to the agreement between Apple and Google. Executives from Apple have maintained that Google was selected as the default search engine because its operation is superior to others, not only because of the money involved. The case is expected to continue for several more weeks.
Giannandrea is Apple's senior vice president of machine learning and AI, and since his 2018 appointment, he has been working to enhance features like Siri and Spotlight. As for his past, he oversaw Search at Google. Much of the testimony involved probing Apple's negotiations to upgrade Siri and Spotlight, which can transfer queries to Google if they are unable to provide a response. The DOJ hypothesised that Apple would have likely intensified its own search technology had it not had an advantageous pact with Google. Giannandrea articulated that Apple does not have a "general" search engine since it does not possess a search results page, but that it contests for inquiries through Siri, Spotlight, and Safari's auto-complete Suggestions, which are capable of responding to questions through Apple's own technology before sending them to Google. Establishing its own search engine, a costly venture, has thus far not been decided. Giannandrea confirmed that Cook had met with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in the summer of 2018 to contemplate whether to intensify their union with Bing. Giannandrea and Apple's head of business development, Adrian Perica, had a few meetings during that year with Microsoft, which started in August. He mentioned that Microsoft proposed they might be inclined to be "very flexible" with allocating revenue from their ads as part of any collaboration. Giannandrea reported that Cook had asked about the diminishing revenue from the Google agreement in August 2018, with the primary driver of the revenue being "the number of queries that were sent to Google." Microsoft suggested that Apple should pay for developments to the search engine, such as increasing its scope to extra international locations, and that one of the four alternatives was a joint venture where Apple would provide resources and work on certain projects. Giannandrea reflected on his misgivings about Bing and whether it would be better than Google, and he forwarded an email to Cook in December 2018 outlining his reservations. He also compared Bing and Google in 2021 and noticed Google was superior at mobile searches. He stated that it was possible to create a similar product, but he did not perceive a path to a superior search engine for Apple's customers. Moreover, Giannandrea mentioned Apple's present work in search technology, referencing its dedication to crawling online for language models, one of the most popular kinds of AI in the tech industry. Representatives from Apple and Microsoft did not return requests for comment.
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