Samsung is reportedly thinking of switching from Google Search to Bing

Alphabet shares fell Monday after a report that Samsung Electronics was considering replacing Google with Microsoft-owned Bing as the default search engine on its devices.

Alphabet Inc shares fell nearly four per cent on Monday after a report that South Korea’s Samsung Electronics was considering replacing Google with Microsoft-owned Bing as the default search engine on its devices.

The report, published by the New York Times over the weekend, underscores the growing challenges Google’s $162-billion-a-year search engine business face from Bing – a minor player that has risen in prominence recently after theintegration of the artificial intelligence tech behind ChatGPT.

Google’s reaction to the threat was “panic” as the company earns an estimated $3 billion in annual revenue from the Samsung contract, the report said, citing internal messages.

Another $20 billion is tied to a similar Apple contract that will be up for renewal this year, the report added.

Alphabet and Samsung did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Google has for decades dominated the search market with a share of over 80 per cent, but Wall Street fears the company could be falling behind Microsoft in a fast-moving AI race.

Parent firm Alphabet lost $100 billion in value on Feb. 8 after its new chatbot, Bard, shared inaccurate information in a promotional video and a company event failed to dazzle.

On Monday, the stock fell to $104.90 and erased nearly $50 billion from Alphabet’s market capitalization. Microsoft, meanwhile, outperformed the broader market with a rise of one per cent.