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Samsung has long-established partnerships with both Microsoft and Google, and its devices come preloaded with a library of apps and services from both companies. Photo: Reuters
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South Korea’s Samsung considers ditching Google for Bing

  • If the world’s leading smartphone maker goes ahead with the switch it would put at risk an estimated US$3 billion in annual revenue for Google
  • Bing’s threat to Google’s search dominance has grown more credible in recent months with the addition of ChatGPT-like responses to user queries
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Microsoft Corp.’s Bing may replace Alphabet Inc.’s Google as the default search service on Samsung Electronics Co. devices, according to a New York Times report.
Suwon-based Samsung, the world’s leading smartphone maker, is considering making the switch, putting at risk roughly US$3 billion in annual revenue for Google, the report said on Sunday. Bing’s threat to Google’s search dominance has grown more credible in recent months with the addition of OpenAI’s technology to provide ChatGPT-like responses to user queries.

Samsung shipped 261 million smartphones in 2022, according to IDC data, all running Google’s Android software. The South Korean company has long-established partnerships with both Microsoft and Google, and its devices come preloaded with a library of apps and services from both, such as OneDrive and Google Maps. Negotiations are still ongoing and Samsung may yet decide to keep Google as its default provider, according to the report.

Microsoft’s Bing search engine began incorporating ChatGPT-like responses to queries earlier this year. Photo: Reuters

Google is working on several projects to update and renew its search services to avoid losing ground. Those include adding artificial intelligence features to its existing offerings, under a project named Magi, which has more than 160 people working on it, the Times reported.

Google is “excited about bringing new AI-powered features to search and will share more details soon”, Lara Levin, a Google spokeswoman, said in a statement. A Google representative did not comment on the company’s negotiations with Samsung. A representative from Samsung declined to comment.

Between its Samsung deal and one with Apple Inc., which the Times report valued at roughly US$20 billion in annual revenue, the Mountain View, California-based search provider has commanding market share in mobile devices in the US and much of the rest of the world.

China’s state media warn of market bubble triggered by ChatGPT frenzy

Large language models, such as the one underpinning ChatGPT and the chatbot functionality in Microsoft’s Bing, are not new to Google. The company has been using LLMs to anticipate the intent of users’ queries, Google’s chief business officer said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call in February.

Google is also rolling out Bard, its own chatbot search assistant, though doing so at a very cautious pace.

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