May 7 (UPI) — The revelation of a potential change from Google to an AI-powered search engine for Apple’s Safari web browser caused shares in both tech firms to lose value on Wednesday.

Apple shares dropped 2.1% to $194.35, and Alphabet shares dropped 5.7% to $153.95 during trading Wednesday afternoon, Benzinga reported.

The respective share values dropped after Apple Senior Vice President of Services Eddy Cue told a federal court that Apple officials are considering replacing Google with an AI-powered search engine for Apple’s proprietary Safari browser that is installed on all of its computers, Bloomberg reported.

Apple officials are considering search engines from OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity AI due to recent decreases in searches made using the Safari browser, Cue said while testifying during a federal antitrust trial in Washington, D.C.

The antitrust trial concerns Google’s search engine, which Apple officials are considering replacing due to declining search-related revenue, Investing.com reported.

Alphabet share prices recently dropped by 9% during trading and are down about 20% for the year, according to Investopedia.

The antitrust lawsuit involves Google and its dominance of the nation’s search engine market, but talk of Apple officials considering switching to a new search engine could affect Apple’s revenue.

News that Apple officials are considering replacing the default Safari search engine in new computers caused concern among its investors due to Google being a significant source of revenue for Apple.

Alphabet annually pays Apple about $20 billion to have Google included as the default search engine on Apple’s Safari web browser.

A potential loss of that annual revenue is making Apple investors cautious and negatively affecting Apple’s share price.