Google shares slide as Samsung 'weighs replacing with Microsoft Bing on phones'

Bing’s threat to Google’s search dominance has escalated in recent months with the addition of OpenAI’s technology to provide ChatGPT-like responses to user queries

Samsung shipped 261 million smartphones in 2022, according to IDC data, all running Google’s Android software.

Shares in Google-owner Alphabet tumbled following a New York Times report that Samsung has considered replacing Google with Microsoft’s Bing as the default search engine on its phones. 

Google employee’s were shocked when they learned about Samsung’s threat in March, the New York Times reported, citing internal messages. The contract between Alphabet and the world’s leading smartphone maker is under negotiation and Samsung could still stick with Google, according to the New York Times. Shares of Alphabet fell as much as 4% at one stage.