John Giannandrea, Apple's senior vice president of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, testified in the ongoing Google antitrust trial and affirmed Google as the superior search engine choice over Bing when given the option. According to Giannandrea, Apple had considered several different search options for Safari, including Bing, but Google was overwhelmingly seen as the better option.

Apple had looked into partnering with, investing in, or even buying Bing at various times. However, all of the options presented raised concerns, including directly challenging Google's "excellent" search product and the likely termination of the billion-dollar revenue-sharing agreement between Apple and Google.

For over two decades, Apple has designated Google as the default search engine in Safari on all its devices. This arrangement has evolved into a revenue-sharing model, with reports suggesting that Google pays Apple over $10 billion annually to maintain its default status. Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, testified in the antitrust trial, claiming that Google's unfair tactics have hindered the success of Bing and other competitors. Nadella said that Microsoft has not been able to outbid Google's use of multibillion-dollar deals to make itself the default search engine on web browsers and smartphones.

Nadella said that he's willing to spend up to $15 billion a year to make Bing the default search engine on Apple devices. The offer is reportedly 50% more than what Google reportedly spends, but Apple has remained committed to Google, suggesting that money is not the only factor in Apple's decision. Apple and Google have argued throughout the trial that users can easily switch to alternative search engines if they are unhappy with the default option. However, Google's superior product remains the preference for most users. 

User preference for Google is echoed in the comment section of a trial update from The Verge, as one user said, "The hard part is not literally switching the default. It's convincing people to and getting them to actually do it."