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Google panicking after Samsung considers making Bing default Galaxy search engine: NYT

By Anam Hamid

Published: Apr 16, 2023, 9:12 PM

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Samsung Google

Google panicking after Samsung considers making Bing default Galaxy search engine: NYT

No company is invincible and after years of being a distant second to Google, Microsoft's Bing has started to look like a real threat. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT's technology into Bing has made it smarter than before and some, including Samsung apparently, think that it's time to ditch Google Search for Bing.

Google heard in March that Samsung was thinking about making Bing the default search engine on its devices, per The New York Times. Currently, Google is the default search engine on the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

The company's employees were shocked to learn about Samsung's decision and entered panic mode. After all, Google's contract with Samsung earns it an annual estimated revenue of $3 billion. And if Samsung goes this route, Apple could very well be next and make it miss out on an annual revenue of $20 billion.

Google has apparently declared a code red over the threat from AI competitors like ChatGPT maker OpenAI. After a longer than 20 years reign over the search business, Google is feeling that its dominance is slipping away. It has responded by accelerating work on its own AI technologies.

The company is amping up the current search engine with new AI features and also wants to make a new AI-powered search engine, per NYT. The new search engine would offer a more personalized experience than the existing one by trying to anticipate users' needs.

Contract between Google and Samsung is under negotiation

Samsung is the number one smartphone maker in the world and sold 259 million units last year. The South Korean giant's phones and tablets run Google's Android operating system, so employees were understandably shocked that Samsung wanted to switch to another search engine after 12 years.

It cannot be said for that sure Microsoft's focus on AI is behind Samsung's decision to switch to Bing, but that's what has been assumed at Google. The contract between the two is under negotiation and it's likely that Samsung will stick with Google for now.

Google is eager to retain Samsung and has apparently asked employees to "help put together material for a pitch to Samsung."

A Google spokesperson told NYT that Android phone manufacturers are free to adopt technologies from different companies.

Google has been working on AI for years but hasn't fully adopted it yet because it doesn't always produce correct and neutral responses. The company released its own chatbot called Bard in February but it wasn't received as well as ChatGPT, primarily because it got a very simple query wrong.

Google is obsessed with modernizing its search engine experience per today's report but has no clear timeline on when the new technology will be released. Although Bard is ad-free, the company's new search engine probably won't be. After all, the search business is Google's bread and butter. It was worth $162 billion in 2022.

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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.