Eddie Cue and other Apple executives are set to testify in the Google Search antitrust case

Three Apple executives will have to testify as part of an antitrust investigation into whether or not Google is abusing its position in the search engine industry. As reported by Reuters, Apple’s Eddy Cue, John Giannandrea, and Adrian Perica will all have to testify despite their argument that doing so would be “unjustifiably onerous.”

Apple is not named as a defendant in the antitrust suit, but its multibillion-dollar deal with Google is a key aspect of the DOJ case. As mentioned earlier, Google pays Apple billions of dollars each year to maintain its position as the default search engine on iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

The Justice Department’s case aims to determine whether Google abuses its position in the search industry and unfairly hinders competition. Despite not being a party to the case, the DOJ says Apple’s affidavits “will address issues central to this case.”

Apple argued that Cue, Giannandrea, and Perica were not needed to testify in the case since the company had “already disclosed more than 125,000 documents from senior executives.” She also criticized the “broad” demands she faced in a case where she was not actually accused.

Eddie Cue is Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services, and John Gianandrea is the company’s Senior Vice President of Machine Learning and AI Strategy. Notably, Gianandrea is also a former CEO at Google. Prior to joining Apple, he spent eight years leading the research, intelligence, and research teams at Google.

Adrian Perica is Apple’s vice president of corporate development, charged with overseeing the “successful integration of critical technologies and new businesses across hardware, software, and services.”

According to the filing, Cue’s testimony will focus on Apple’s multi-billion dollar deal with Google, as well as Apple’s involvement with competitors such as Microsoft and DuckDuckGo. Gianandrea will be asked to testify about his time at Google and his “direction of Apple’s research efforts.”

The deal with Google is one of the biggest components of Apple’s services revenue, so you’ll likely be watching this issue closely. The outcome remains to be seen, but it is likely that we are far from achieving anything.

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