Apple has asked to participate in Google's upcoming U.S. antitrust trial over online search, saying it can't count on Google to defend revenue-sharing deals that earn the iPhone maker billions of dollars each year for making Google the default search engine on your Safari browser.
Apple has no plans to build its own search engine to compete with Alphabet's Google, whether payments continue or not, company lawyers said in court documents filed in Washington on Monday. Apple received an estimated $20 billion from its deal with Google in 2022 alone.
Apple wants to call witnesses to testify in a trial in April. Prosecutors will try to show that Google must take several steps, including selling its Chrome web browser and potentially its Android operating system, to restore competition in online search.
“Google can no longer adequately represent Apple's interests: Google must now defend itself from a broad attempt to break up its business units,” Apple said.
The Justice Department's lawsuit against Google is a landmark case that could reshape how users find information online.
Google has proposed easing its default deals with browser developers, mobile device makers and wireless carriers, but not ending its deals to share a portion of the advertising revenue Google generates from search.
A Google spokesperson declined to comment Tuesday.
