A Potential Samsung Move Is Fraying Nerves at Google

It's a move that would have been unthinkable even a few short months ago: Samsung is considering ditching Google as its default search engine for phones and replacing it with Microsoft's new AI-powered Bing, reports the New York Times. The move could result in Google parent company Alphabet losing $3 billion a year. The report came out Sunday evening, and Bloomberg reports that Alphabet shares sank 4% in premarket trading as a result. They'd rebounded slightly as the market opened on Monday.

The Times story emphasizes that Samsung is only considering making the switch, which would represent "the first potential crack in Google's seemingly impregnable search business." Still, the mere possibility reportedly has Google employees "shocked" and scrambling to get a new AI tool up and running in a project dubbed Magi. The goal is to have a demonstration ready next month, reports the tech site Tom's Guide. When Google rolled out an early version of its AI-powered chatbot Bard in February, the tool made a very public flub. "So it should probably mix haste with care on this latest project," writes Andy Sansom of Tom's Guide. (One tech columnist had trouble sleeping after chatting with the Bing tool for a couple of hours.)