Apple tries to defend Google’s billion-dollar payments in the search lawsuit.

(Reuters) – Apple (AAPL.O) has requested to participate in Google’s impending US antitrust lawsuit over internet search, claiming that it cannot rely on Google to defend revenue-sharing arrangements that pay the iPhone manufacturer billions of dollars each year for making Google the default search engine on its Safari browser.

Apple does not intend to establish its own search engine to compete with Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google, regardless of whether the payments continue, according to court documents filed in Washington on Monday. Apple earned an estimated $20 billion from its partnership with Google in 2022 alone.

Apple intends to summon witnesses to testify during the April trial. Prosecutors will try to demonstrate that Google must take numerous steps, including selling its Chrome web browser and maybe its Android operating system, to restore competition in online search.
“Google can no longer adequately represent Apple’s interests: Google must now defend against a broad effort to break up its business units,” the company claimed.

The Department of Justice’s pursuit against Google is a watershed moment that might alter how consumers obtain information online.

Google has suggested loosening its default arrangements with browser developers, mobile device makers, and cellular carriers, but not ending its agreements to share a piece of the ad money generated by search.
Google representative declined to comment on Tuesday.