A Mysterious Deal Between Google and Samsung Could Change Everything

A recent court testimony has revealed that Alphabet, Google’s parent company, pays Samsung large monthly sums to have its AI app “Gemini” preinstalled on Samsung devices.

Despite this practice previously being ruled as a violation of antitrust laws on two occasions, Google continues to pay other companies to have its apps set as default.

A report by Bloomberg detailed that Google began making fixed payments to Samsung starting in January.

Peter Fitzgerald, Google’s VP of Device and Platform Partnerships, testified before a federal court in Washington—part of an antitrust case filed by the U.S. Department of Justice—that the company pays Samsung both fixed amounts and a percentage of advertising revenue generated through the Gemini app. While exact figures weren’t disclosed, a Justice Department attorney described the sums as “huge monthly payments.”

The antitrust case accuses Google of using unlawful tactics to dominate the search engine market. Fitzgerald’s testimony has added a new layer to the case, highlighting payments made to ensure Google remains the default search engine on Samsung devices.

The court continues to hear testimonies to decide what measures Google should take to correct its practices. Other revelations indicate that Google also paid massive amounts to companies like Apple and Samsung to secure default status for its search engine on their devices.

In a related testimony involving Epic Games, it was disclosed that Google paid around $8 billion between 2020 and 2023 to make its services—Search, Play Store, and Google Assistant—the default on Samsung devices. Despite this, a federal court in California ruled to lift restrictions imposed by Google on competitors’ markets and alternative payment systems—a ruling Google is now appealing.