Alphabet won’t talk about the Google-Apple AI deal, even to investors

Techcrunch reports Alphabet declined to answer an investor's question about Google’s AI deal with Apple on its fourth-quarter earnings call, effectively ignoring the analyst’s query. That decision indicates Alphabet isn’t ready to talk about how this partnership will impact its core business, which is increasingly focused on AI.

Over the years, the Google-Apple relationship has been mutually beneficial. Filings from the Department of Justice’s lawsuit revealed the search partnership saw Google paying Apple $20 billion to be the default search engine on Apple devices, and Apple last quarter announced it has 2.5 billion active devices worldwide.

The latest Apple AI deal is rumored to cost Apple roughly $1 billion per year, but the payoff beyond that for Google isn’t as immediately obvious. Ads in AI Mode remain an “experiment,” appearing below or integrated into chatbot responses, while Google is testing agentic shopping, including Shop with AI Mode, to guide consumers to checkout from the AI interface.