In what comes as a breath of fresh air for Apple iPhone and iPad users, AI-based virtual assistant Siri will now use Google to search for queries on the web. Until now, Microsoft’s Bing was the search engine that Siri used by default. The change has been applied with immediate effect on all iOS devices.
Google was already used by Apple’s Safari browser as the default search engine on Macs, iPads and iPhones. Now, Siri’s spotlight function will also use Google as the default search engine for returning web-based results. In a statement to The Telegraph, an Apple spokesperson said that they made the switch to Google to “allow these services to have a consistent web search experience with the default in Safari”.
However, Siri still uses Bing as the default image search engine. In a statement to The Telegraph, Microsoft said that "We value our relationship with Apple and look forward to continuing to partner with them in many ways, including on Bing Image Search in Siri, to provide the best experience possible for our customers. As we move forward, given our work to advance the field of AI, we're confident that Bing will be at the forefront of providing a more intelligent search experience for our customers and partners."
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