OpenAI is attempting to erode the traffic moat of search giant Google. On March 23, it was reported that OpenAI formally submitted an application to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), requesting that its ChatGPT be included in the list of selectable default search engines for Google's Android system and Chrome browser.

In its submission, OpenAI explicitly argued that as consumers increasingly prefer conversational, multimodal interactions to obtain information, AI chatbots with internet retrieval capabilities have substantively taken on the function of search engines. OpenAI suggested that the relevant eligibility criteria should clearly include AI chatbots with search functions that can provide a "generative search experience."

For Google, this may represent another structurally threatening challenge since the "code red" alert declared following ChatGPT's launch in 2022. At that time, the industry widely believed AI would disrupt search. Years later, Google stabilized its position by rapidly integrating Gemini and launching AI Overviews. In 2025, Google's search revenue grew by 16% to reach $63 billion, with profitability even stronger than before the AI wave.

This time, however, the opponent is not choosing a head-on technological confrontation but is instead leveraging regulatory rules, attempting to loosen the foundations of Google's moat.

OpenAI's "Trojan Horse" This is not OpenAI's first challenge to Google, but on this occasion, it has opted not to compete directly on product or technology. Instead, it is using antitrust regulation as a tool to try and pry open the search gateway that Google has guarded for two decades.

The UK is one of the major markets where Google holds its highest search market share and is also one of the countries where regulators have been most active in intervening against Google's search dominance. The CMA has conducted ongoing investigations into Google's dominant position in the search market in recent years, last year designating Google as having a "Strategic Market Status" and requiring it to provide a "Choice Screen" for UK users, allowing them to set their default search provider.

This aims to break Google's monopoly in the search market and promote competition. Previously, traditional search engines like Microsoft Bing and DuckDuckGo appeared on this selection screen.

OpenAI contends that times have changed. In its submission to the CMA, OpenAI stated: "Like search engines, some chatbots can help users access a wide range of information through conversational or multimodal responses. Moreover, consumers are increasingly using such services for various searches."

Therefore, OpenAI believes the definition of a "search engine" in the regulatory framework should be updated to include AI platforms like ChatGPT that offer a "generative search experience." As of early this year, ChatGPT's weekly active users had surpassed 900 million.

This logic is not without basis. In fact, Google itself has already integrated generative AI on a large scale into its core search product – AI Overviews use large language models to generate answers directly, allowing users to get information without clicking links. Information disclosed by Google shows its AI Overviews now serve over 200 million monthly users across more than 200 countries and regions.

Consequently, as Google reshapes search with AI, it becomes difficult to justify excluding AI competitors on the grounds that "this is not a search engine."

From a business logic perspective, OpenAI's request is not radical. Users can already manually set ChatGPT as their search engine in the Chrome browser by installing additional extensions, but this is far from reaching the true "traffic heart." A system-level, native official option is the shortest path to shaping user habits.

Google's response has been measured. A Google spokesperson referenced a blog post from last week responding to the CMA, stating that "frequent, intrusive pop-ups" would "annoy users."

However, it can be imagined that internally, Google is not so calm. After all, the default search engine setting is the lifeblood of Google's business model, with tens of billions of dollars in annual advertising revenue heavily reliant on the Android system and Chrome browser.

Placing ChatGPT, its biggest competitor, directly into the system's native options would inevitably divert traffic from Google's native search. For the entire digital content ecosystem, the exposure opportunities for content creators, the distribution mechanism of advertising revenue, and even the overall business model of the internet would face restructuring.

Who is Disrupting Whom? OpenAI's use of regulation to knock on Google's door points to a more fundamental industry question: when AI begins providing information in a conversational format, do we still need "search engines"?

In the early narrative, the argument that "AI will disrupt search" prevailed. Looking back at the industry's evolution over the past year and a half, in 2024, ChatGPT officially launched its internet search feature, capable of actively retrieving web information on behalf of users and presenting results in a conversational format, breaking the traditional "list of links" model.

Gartner predicts that by 2026, global traffic to traditional search engines will decrease by 25% year-over-year, while the share of AI-native search traffic will rise to 42%.

Following this, Google was compelled to fully integrate AI Overviews into its core search product, while Microsoft Bing had already deeply integrated Copilot. Nearly all search products rapidly incorporated AI capabilities to counter the impact.

However, in the current AI competition, players like OpenAI are no longer confined to competing on product features and user experience; they are now vying for gateway status.

Last October, OpenAI released ChatGPT Atlas, a new AI-driven web browser positioned directly against Google Chrome. It is reported that OpenAI is also developing a desktop application that integrates the ChatGPT chatbot, the Codex programming platform, and the Atlas web browser, attempting to create a closed-loop AI working environment. It is clear that OpenAI's ambition is to build a comprehensive AI gateway ecosystem.

Nevertheless, Google's "ecosystem advantage" remains its sturdy moat. Google does not need to force users to download a new AI app; it possesses the world's leading mobile operating system (Android), the leading web browser (Chrome), and the leading email service (Gmail), with AI capabilities deeply embedded throughout.

Financial reports show that in 2025, Google's search business revenue reached $63 billion, a 16% year-over-year increase, remaining the absolute cash cow for its parent company, Alphabet. Two years after the impact of the AI wave, Google's search business has not shrunk but has become more profitable than before.

According to data released by BrightEdge for January 2026, Google's search market share slightly increased from 90.80% in November 2025 to 90.88% in December. During the same period, ChatGPT's traffic share continued to decline, while Google's Gemini surpassed Perplexity for the first time to become the leader in the AI search domain.

Commenting on this, BrightEdge CEO Jim Yu stated: "We are witnessing the end of the AI search gold rush era and entering a period of brutal natural selection. Google is proving that its strategy for pursuing lasting success is working."

OpenAI's challenge lies in needing users to specifically change their habits for AI search, which is far more difficult than the technological aspect. This also explains why OpenAI chose to make a breakthrough via regulation. When technological innovation struggles to quickly overcome user inertia, leveraging antitrust measures to open traffic gateways is a lower-cost path.

From the current standpoint, OpenAI's application to the CMA has not yet been approved, and Google will not be without a response. This contest is far from over. The battle for gateways in the AI era will only intensify.