Ecosia and Qwant partner up to become Europe’s alternative to Google Search
The EUSP seeks to reduce Europe’s dependence on Google and Microsoft’s technology and pave the way for generative AI development on their own
Two European organisations, Germany's not-for-profit search engine Ecosia and France's privacy-focused search engine Qwant, have recently partnered to reduce their dependence on big tech, specifically Google.
The joint venture, European Search Perspective (EUSP), aims to "contribute to digital sovereignty within Europe and ensure the continent has a strong, independent alternative to existing search technologies," a blogpost from Qwant says.
The ownership is shared by 50-50 between both parties.
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"The mission is clear — to develop democratic, sovereign tech on the continent at the same time when generative AI will profoundly redefine the online search experience," said Olivier Abecassis, the CEO of European Search Perspective.
Currently, independent search engines do not develop their own back-end technology, rather they use existing infrastructure. Both Ecosia and Qwant currently depend on Bing's search APIs to power their platforms, with Ecosia additionally using Google's search API for its search results.
Initially, they do not plan to stop using Google or Microsoft APIs, rather they want to diversify the API tech by developing their own index. This will essentially reduce the operational cost of APIs and work as a base for developing their own generative AI technologies.
The current EUSP model allows for raising external capital from investors to support long-term expansion. The venture will initially serve France and Germany starting early 2025, and aims to expand later.
