Google made payments worth $20 bn to Apple in 2022, court documents show

Alphabet Inc. paid Apple Inc. $20 billion in 2022 for Google to be the default search engine in the Safari browser, according to newly unsealed court documents in the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Google.

The deal between the two tech giants is at the heart of the landmark case, in which antitrust enforcers allege Google has illegally monopolised the market for online search and related advertising. The Justice Department and Google will offer closing arguments in the case Thursday and Friday, with a decision expected later this year.