“In the competitive AI landscape, Apple is signalling it’ s ready to reclaim control over its AI destiny”
Sarath Nair, Data & AI Director, Cognizant
The company is now hunting for people with“ experience with search algorithms and engine development” to help shape“ the future of how the world connects with information” – language that suggests Apple sees this as more than just another product feature.
The timing is hardly coincidental. Apple pockets roughly US $ 20bn each year from Google for the privilege of being the default search engine across iPhones, iPads and Macs. But US antitrust regulators are circling and that lucrative arrangement could be torn up, leaving a hole in Apple’ s finances.
Building its own search capability would provide a cushion against such a scenario.
136 January 2026