Alphabet Slides on Report Samsung Could Replace Google With Bing
Shares of Alphabet (GOOGL:US) tumbled on Monday after the report in the New York Times discussed that Samsung Electronics is considering replacing the company’s Google search engine with Microsoft’s (MSFT:US) Bing.
The report noted that about $3 billion in annual sales is at stake as the world’s largest smartphone maker is weighing up whether to extend its contract with Google or switch to Bing.
According to the report, Google’s staff was shocked to find out about the looming Bing threat. However, it just shows the surge in the usage of Bing after Microsoft started incorporating ChatGPT’s capabilities to help answer user queries.
As a result, Google is reportedly now working to update and upgrade its search service as it attempts to fend off the Bing threat. The management team reportedly assembled a 160-people-strong team under a project name “Magi” to work on improving Google Search.
Google is “excited about bringing new AI-powered features to search and will share more details soon,” Lara Levin, a Google spokeswoman told Bloomberg.
According to IDC data, Samsung shipped around 261 million smartphone units last year. Alphabet also has a multi-billion deal with Apple (AAPL:US) to have its “Search” as a default search engine on iOS.
The GOOGL stock selloff comes after Rep. Michael McCaul disclosed last month several sales of shares in February. The Congressman was actively selling GOOGL stock, including the four transactions worth between $50,000 to $100,000.
Alphabet shares are up nearly 18% year-to-date while Microsoft is trading more than 20% in the green since the year start.
