DuckDuckGo Installs Surge: Users Reject Google's Imposed AI

Colleagues, a quick AI market update: Google is transitioning Search to an AI agent, and a segment of users is migrating to alternatives.

TechCrunch reports that DuckDuckGo installs in the US (May 20–25) rose an average of 18% WoW, peaking at 30.5%; on iOS the average increase was 33%, peak 69.9%.

Visits to noai.duckduckgo.com, which disables all AI functionality, increased by 23% on average.

DuckDuckGo is positioning itself as the control-first option: noAI, private Duck.ai, query anonymization and automatic chat deletion after 30 days.

Why this matters: rising demand for control and privacy is shifting user expectations and product priorities.

Will Google reinstate an option to disable AI?
#AI #search #privacy #DuckDuckGo