A few years ago, it was reported that Apple was increasing its efforts to build its search engine alternative to rival Google, only to find the latter paying the Cupertino giant a paltry sum of $20 billion in 2022 to maintain its own search If As we install the engine by default on a variety of devices, these efforts have likely diminished. While we can debate why Apple isn’t developing its own search engine, a company executive has given several reasons why the company has no plans to do so. Although there is plenty of money to work with and burn, other obstacles prevent the development of a Google-like search engine.

Another reason Apple doesn’t want to build a search engine is that the plan runs counter to its core business of selling targeted advertising

A statement filed in US federal court in Washington, spotted by MacRumors, reveals Apple’s senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue, discussing why the California-based giant has no plans to develop a search engine to rival Google to record. First, despite the billions of dollars it would take to build something from scratch, it would take years for the search engine to be fully functional and for the company to use for other worthwhile endeavors.

In addition, developing a search engine is “economically risky” for Apple as the company evolves through the use of artificial intelligence. Given that the company is already late in bringing generative AI capabilities to the masses, Apple has already lost the race to other competitors. Assuming the above reasons are the least of Apple’s worries, completing the search engine would require the company to enable targeted advertising, which goes against the core business that Apple is built on.

Additionally, despite Apple’s nearly unlimited resources, there is a lack of talent needed to develop a search engine from scratch. This means that it will be pointless to continue investing billions of dollars if the venture is making little progress. Previously, we reported that Microsoft tried to sell its Bing search engine to Apple six times, but the offers were rejected due to poor search quality compared to Google’s product.

Eddy Cue has also said that there is no alternative to Google, which is why the company continues to accept billions in payments to keep the Mountain View company’s search engine as the default. However, if the US Department of Justice decides to terminate this partnership, Cue said it could “hinder” Apple’s ability to continue to deliver products that best meet the needs of its users.