Apple has reportedly held discussions with DuckDuckGo to potentially replace Google as the default search engine for the private mode on Apple’s Safari browser.
The details of these talks are expected to be made public later this week, following a ruling by judge Amit Mehta in a federal antitrust suit against Google.
Mehta has decided to unseal the testimony of DuckDuckGo CEO, Gabriel Weinberg, and Apple executive, John Giannandrea. The discussions between Microsoft and Apple, as well as DuckDuckGo and Apple, will also be revealed, as stated in Mehta’s order.
Apple, DuckDuckGo, and Google have not yet responded to a request for comment.
In a significant trial in the US last month, the Department of Justice argued that Google, which dominates around 90% of the search market, unlawfully paid approximately $10 billion annually to smartphone manufacturers like Apple and wireless carriers such as AT&T.
This payment was made to secure its position as the default search engine on their devices.
During the trial, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified on Monday, stating that major tech companies were competing for extensive amounts of content required to train artificial intelligence. He criticized Google for securing content through expensive and exclusive deals with publishers.
Nadella also mentioned that Microsoft had attempted to make its Bing search engine the default option on Apple smartphones but was rejected.
