Google pays Samsung enormous sums to preinstall Gemini AI on devices

Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., has been paying Samsung Electronics an “enormous sum of money” each month to preinstall its generative AI app, Gemini, on Samsung devices, court testimony confirmed.

The practice, which has raised legal concerns, began in January 2024 and is part of an ongoing antitrust case in Washington, DC, Caliber.Az reports citing foreign media.

Peter Fitzgerald, Google’s vice president of platforms and device partnerships, testified on Monday that the contract between Google and Samsung runs for at least two years. Under the agreement, Google makes fixed monthly payments for every Samsung device that preinstalls Gemini. Additionally, Samsung receives a percentage of the revenue generated from ads within the app.

Google's payments to Samsung were a focal point in the Justice Department’s antitrust case, with the company facing scrutiny for paying device manufacturers to preinstall its apps, a practice that has been found to violate antitrust laws in previous cases. Last year, Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google’s payments to Samsung for making Google Search the default search engine on its devices were illegal. The court is now determining the steps Google must take to rectify its anti-competitive practices.

Although the specific figures involved in the Gemini deal were not disclosed in court, DOJ lawyer David Dahlquist stated during opening remarks that Google pays Samsung “an enormous sum of money in a fixed monthly payment.” This is in line with previous reports showing Google paid Samsung $8 billion between 2020 and 2023 to secure the default status for services like Google Search, Google Assistant, and the Play Store on Samsung devices.

In a separate case regarding Google’s monopolization of the Android ecosystem, a federal jury in 2023 found that Google abused its power in the Android app market, leading to a California judge ruling that the company must remove restrictions preventing developers from using rival app marketplaces and billing systems. Google is appealing the decision.

The court’s ongoing investigation into Google’s business practices continues to attract significant attention, as it could lead to changes in how the company operates within the competitive tech ecosystem.

By Vafa Guliyeva