Google and Apple: Why Sundar Pichai Is Avoiding the iPhone Question

Picture this: you're on a date, and your partner dodges the question about meeting the parents for the tenth time. That's roughly how Alphabet investors feel after the latest earnings call. When analysts asked Sundar Pichai directly about a deal with Apple to integrate Gemini into the iPhone, he simply changed the subject. No confirmation, no denial, just stock phrases about how much Google loves partnerships. But in big tech, that kind of silence usually means either a very big win or very serious problems.

The context matters more than any official press release. For decades, Google has paid Apple tens of billions of dollars a year just to remain the default search engine in Safari. It was the most stable and profitable deal in Silicon Valley history. But the generative AI era has arrived, and the old rules have stopped working. Apple now needs more than a search box: it needs a powerful language model to revive Siri and make the iPhone "smart" again. And if Google doesn't become that engine, OpenAI or even Anthropic will gladly take its place.

Why is Pichai silent right now? The answer lies in the legal arena. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has long had Google's search monopoly in its sights. A new AI agreement with Apple could be a red flag for regulators. If Google becomes the exclusive supplier of AI brains for a billion iPhones, antitrust authorities will see it as an attempt to strangle competition in the cradle. So any careless word from the CEO on an investor call could be used against the company in court.

On the other hand, the talks may be going badly. Tim Cook is known for his toughness: Apple does not like depending on third-party technology. Cupertino is likely demanding a level of control over data and privacy that Google physically cannot provide without hurting its advertising algorithms. While investors nervously refresh their news feeds, Google is trying to sit on two chairs: show that it leads in LLMs, yet not look like an aggressive monopolist grabbing the smartphone market.

For ordinary users, this corporate drama means one thing: we are getting closer to the moment when your phone becomes a truly personal assistant. Whether it will be Gemini or a hybrid system from Apple itself should become clear in June at WWDC. Until then, Sundar Pichai will most likely keep showing off his diplomatic skills by dodging direct answers. But hiding the truth for long won't work: either Google gets into every iPhone, or it starts slowly losing the mobile market.

The bottom line: Alphabet cannot afford to lose the battle for the iPhone, but it is too early to talk about victory. Waiting for the resolution at WWDC?