Google stock plunged Wednesday after Apple’s senior vice president of services said the tech giant believes AI search engines will eventually replace standard search engines, according to a new report.

Apple’s Eddy Cue, testifying in the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., said Apple is looking to add artificial intelligence services as search options in new versions of its Safari browser in the future, according to Bloomberg News.

He acknowledged that searches on Safari dropped for the first time last month, which he said was likely because people were using AI search engines — which include OpenAI, Perplexity AI Inc., and Anthropic PBC — instead of Google’s standard search engine. Mr. Cue said AI will eventually replace search engines like Google. 

“Prior to AI, my feeling around this was, none of the others were valid choices,” Mr. Cue said. “I think today there is much greater potential because there are new entrants attacking the problem in a different way.”

“There’s enough money now, enough large players, that I don’t see how [the switch] doesn’t happen,” Mr. Cue said. 

At the heart of the justice department’s case is Alphabet’s $20 billion-a-year agreement with Apple that secures Google’s position as the default search engine on Safari, the browser pre-installed on Apple devices. Mr. Cue acknowledged the financial importance of the partnership, stating he has “lost sleep over the possibility of losing the revenue share from their agreement.” 

Yet he also noted that technology is “changing fast enough that people may not even use the same devices in a few years. You may not need an iPhone 10 years from now, as crazy as it sounds.”

“The only way you truly have true competition is when you have technology shifts,” Mr. Cue said. “AI is a new technology shift, and it’s creating new opportunities for new entrants.”

Apple has already integrated OpenAI’s ChatGPT into Siri and is expected to incorporate Google’s AI product, Gemini, later this year. Discussions have also been held with Perplexity and Anthropic as potential additions to Safari’s search options. 

Following Mr. Cue’s comments, Alphabet shares dropped as much as 8 percent, dragging the broader market lower, while Apple’s shares fell by as much as 2.5 percent. The S&P 500 also dipped into negative territory after briefly gaining earlier in the day.

The stakes remain high for both companies. For Alphabet, the justice department is seeking to penalize Google’s alleged monopolistic practices. For Apple, the future of its multibillion-dollar revenue stream from Google’s deal hangs in the balance, especially as it assesses the growing appeal of AI-powered search solutions.