Apple AI Chief Points Out New Private Browser Search at Google Trial

New iOS 17 gives users choice of search engine in private mode
Justice Department says Google-Apple deal hinders competition

Former Google executive John Giannandrea, now at Apple, testified at the Department of Justice’s trial against the search giant.Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

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By Leah Nylen

September 22, 2023 at 8:48 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

John Giannandrea, a former top Google executive who decamped to Apple Inc. to head its artificial intelligence business, pointed out a quiet change in the latest iPhone software update that allows users to select a search engine other than Google’s when browsing the internet in private mode.

The iOS 17, released Monday, added “a second setting, so you could choose two different” search engines, Giannandrea said in testimony in federal court in Washington as part of the Justice Department’s antitrust suit against Alphabet Inc.’s Google.