Should Apple launch a search engine to compete with Google?

Google currently pays Apple ~$20 Billion annually (Information Services Agreement) to remain the default search engine on Safari iOS devices. Evaluate whether Apple should launch its own public search engine and terminate the Google deal.

Context

Apple has built substantial search crawling technology (Applebot, Spotlight, Siri Suggestion Index) and champions consumer privacy.

Clarifying questions to ask first

Is this triggered by potential regulatory bans on the Google-Apple revenue sharing deal?
Would the search engine be web-wide or focused on on-device/Siri personal intelligence?

How to approach it

Strategic Financial Tradeoff: Guaranteed 100% pure profit $20B annual revenue from Google with zero CapEx vs Building global search infrastructure and ad monetization network
Infrastructure & CapEx Realities: Web crawling index at Google scale requires tens of billions in server farms, web indexing pipelines, and real-time ad auction engines
Antitrust & Regulatory Backdrop: US DOJ antitrust lawsuits targeting the Google-Apple default search revenue-sharing agreement
Alternative Strategic Path: Enhance on-device Spotlight AI semantic search and Siri LLM integrations while collecting Google payments as long as legally permissible
Definitive Go / No-Go Strategic Verdict

Framework: Financial Analysis ($20B Revenue Share vs Search Economics) -> Technical Feasibility & CapEx -> Regulatory Landscape -> Strategic Alternatives -> Decision

Sample answer

Launching a standalone web search engine destroys $20B of pure 100% margin EBITDA with no guarantee of building a viable ad network
Apple's brand is built on privacy, creating cognitive dissonance with building a behavioral search ads engine
Apple should maintain Applebot/Spotlight as an internal hedge while evolving Siri into an AI answer engine

Google Safari ad revenue is ~$35B; Google pays Apple $20B (57% rev share); If Apple built its own search, it would take 5+ years and billions in CapEx just to match that net cash flow

Recommendation: DO NOT launch a standalone public web search engine. Keep collecting the $20B Google default revenue until legally blocked; invest R&D into on-device Apple Intelligence and Siri AI answers as the next-gen search interface.

What interviewers look for

Financial Tradeoff ($20B Pure Profit vs Ad Network Buildout)
Technical & Infrastructure Barrier to Entry
Antitrust / Regulatory Pressures
Strategic Alternative Recommendations