DuckDuckGo installs surge 30% as users flee Google's forced AI search

After Google’s I/O conference unveiled a massive overhaul replacing its classic blue links with AI agents that answer queries and run background tasks, a sharp backlash erupted. Critics warn it will kill the open web and force users into inaccurate AI summaries. Many are opting out by switching to DuckDuckGo, the privacy-first search engine. Chatting with users and CEO Gabriel Weinberg, DuckDuckGo confirmed a major spike: U.S. app installs grew 30.5% week-over-week on May 25, with iOS installs peaking at 69.9% growth. Visits to its AI-free search page noai.duckduckgo.com also jumped 22.7% WoW. The company says growth continued over Memorial Day, a traditionally slow period. Weinberg stated, 'Google is force-feeding AI with no way to opt out. Their results are getting worse, not better. We put users in charge.' Interestingly, DuckDuckGo offers Duck.ai, a free, private AI chatbot that accesses models like Anthropic’s Claude 4.5 Haiku, Meta’s Llama 4 Scout, Mistral Small 3 24B, and OpenAI’s GPT-5 mini. Chats are anonymized and deleted within 30 days, never used for training. The company also offers popular AI features like Search Assist and an AI Image Filter, showing users want choice and privacy – not a forced AI experience.