Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke with Google CEO Sundar Pichai about the tech giants' collaboration in 2018, and Google's ongoing antitrust trial revealed that transcripts of the conversations showed both parties were willing to make the deal work.
Google paid Apple billions of dollars to become Safari's default search engine, and the Justice Department's antitrust trial against Alphabet delved into the relationship between the two companies. A piece of evidence presented in court on Monday showed the companies appeared to be very happy with the deal and could have done more.
Multiple passages were briefly presented to the court, leaving little time to accurately transcribe them in their entirety. Judging from the passages transcribed by reporters at the scene, the two CEOs of Apple and Google are interested in deepening cooperation between the two companies.
The notes, from Google, revolve around a two-hour meeting in 2018 in which Cook and Pichai attended along with other executives.
In the Noted section, it is said that "Tim's overall message to Google is that I imagine we can be deeply deep partners; deeply connected where our services end and yours begin, and see no natural barriers to us doing more together."
Cook knew there was a history between the two companies, but "he didn't feel burdened by it and wanted to know how we could work together more deeply." Cook also said it would also involve "better sharing of information," a point he apparently emphasized multiple times.
The Apple CEO also apparently told Pichai: "We can take our time and have no regrets about the way we've handled it so far."
In a separate note, Google's CEO said the company "loves to see iPhone numbers grow and will answer the questions you have for us in good faith."
Finally, an unnamed spokesperson said: "Our vision is that we work as if we are one company. Neither side is willing to share things. It would be great if that could be overcome."
"We've been back in good shape for a while; building a Google app and really building a great experience. We can extend the terms of the deal." A final note captured Pichai's sentiments.
While it's unclear who exactly said what, and whether the notes are direct quotes from the conversation or summed up key points, they at least indicate that there was a lot of good faith between Apple and Google at that 2018 meeting.
The trial continues.