Apple Inc. is in discussions with Alphabet Inc. to license Google’s artificial intelligence engine for iPhone software features, Bloomberg reports.
This potential deal is not the first collaboration between the two tech giants.
For two decades, Google has paid Apple billions of dollars annually to be the default search engine on Safari. The Verge notes that Google reportedly pays more than $10 billion each year to maintain its default status on the iPhone.
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Should a licensing agreement be finalized, it would likely attract the attention of regulators in both the US and the EU.
In 2023, the search engine contract was at the forefront of a US antitrust lawsuit against Google, highlighted by the Washington Post.
The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), enforced from March 6, aims to prevent preferential treatment of certain services (such as the Google search engine) and address tech monopolies or duopolies.
Both Google and Apple have previously received record-setting fines from the EU for violating antitrust laws.
According to CNBC, shares of Alphabet and Apple rose in early premarket trading on Monday following reports of the potential deal, with the former climbing as much as 3% and the latter by 0.53%.