Google и Apple: почему Сундар Пичаи боится говорить об iPhone

Imagine a situation: you're on a date, and your partner ignores for the tenth time your question about when you'll meet their parents. That's roughly how Alphabet investors feel after the latest earnings call. When analysts directly asked Sundar Pichai about Apple's deal to integrate Gemini into iPhone, he simply changed the subject. No confirmations, no denials, just standard phrases about how much Google loves partnerships. But in the world of big tech, such silence usually means either a very major success or very serious problems.

Context here matters more than any official press release. For decades, Google has been paying Apple tens of billions of dollars per year just to remain the default search engine in Safari. This was the most stable and profitable deal in Silicon Valley's history. But the era of generative AI has arrived, and the old rules no longer work. Now Apple needs not just a search bar, but a powerful language model that will bring Siri to life and make the iPhone "smart" again. And if Google doesn't become that engine, its place will happily be taken by OpenAI or even Anthropic.

Why is Pichai silent now? The answer lies in the legal realm. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has long been eyeing Google's search monopoly. A new deal with Apple in the AI space could become a red flag for regulators. If Google becomes the exclusive AI supplier for a billion iPhones, antitrust authorities will see it as an attempt to strangle competition in its infancy. That's why any careless word from the CEO on a call with investors could be used in court against the company itself.

On the other hand, it's possible that negotiations are difficult. Tim Cook is known for his toughness: Apple doesn't like to depend on third-party technology. Cupertino likely demands such a level of control over data and privacy that Google simply cannot provide without damaging its advertising algorithms. While investors nervously refresh their news feeds, Google is trying to sit on two chairs: show that they're leaders in LLMs, while not looking like an aggressive monopolist capturing the smartphone market.

For the average user, this corporate drama means one thing — we're getting closer to the moment when your phone will become a truly personal assistant. Whether it will be Gemini or some hybrid system from Apple itself will become clear in June at the WWDC conference. Until then, Sundar Pichai will likely continue demonstrating feats of diplomacy, dodging direct answers. But you can't keep a secret for long: either Google gets into every iPhone, or it slowly begins to lose the mobile market.

The main point: Alphabet cannot afford to lose the battle for the iPhone, but it's too early to talk about victory. Waiting for the resolution at WWDC?