These ducks are looking mighty. Search engine and web browser developer DuckDuckGo said this week that it's getting a surge of new customers, and the increase just happens to coincide with Google's I/O developer conference.

DuckDuckGo told CNET that, in the US, it saw 21% more installations of its browser from May 20 through May 26 -- including a spike of 37% on Tuesday -- as compared with May 13 through May 19. Browser installs on iOS rose 33%, including 69% on Memorial Day.

Why the jump? Google held its I/O conference from May 19 to May 20 and announced a bunch of AI initiatives. One of those initiatives was an expanded AI-driven search interface that can deliver expanded answers to longer queries. People can also drop videos, pictures and files into the search box for a "multimodal" search.

Beyond the installations, DuckDuckGo told CNET there was a 500% increase in mentions about its company across all social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, Reddit and X, among others.

DuckDuckGo founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg said in a statement that Google is "force-feeding AI with no way to opt out" and pointed to a report that indicated Google searches are getting worse. 

"We want to be the place that puts users in charge and allows them to decide how much or how little AI they want," Weinberg said. 

A representative for Google did not respond to a request for comment.

Read more: Google I/O Left Me Confused: Who Benefits From All This AI?

Google doesn't have an official, stated way of turning off AI-assisted search results, but CNET's Nelson Aguilar does have an "easy workaround" to get the old Google search back, which he details here.

DuckDuckGo offers flexibility in how much AI customers will get. The browser has a Search Assist function that uses AI to help answer search queries, and users can designate in its settings how often they want it to appear, including Never.

You can also go AI-free with noai.duckduckgo.com search, which doesn't have AI-assisted answers or AI-generated images. This page had a 23% increase in searches during the period May 20 through May 25 compared to the period between May 13 through May 18, the company said.

"People just want a choice," said Kamyl Bazbaz, DuckDuckGo's chief communications and policy officer.

DuckDuckGo has a chatbot feature, Duck.ai, that allows people to choose among models from OpenAI, Anthropic and others. The browser also features an Ask AI button to the right of the search bar, which you can use to get AI-generated answers. Weinberg said it doesn't collect search or chat histories and that "nothing is used for AI training."

User privacy was how DuckDuckGo marketed itself back when it launched in 2008. The Pennsylvania-based company doesn't track customer data, record search histories or log IP addresses, allowing customers to avoid being targeted by ads based on their browsing patterns. 

Cloud network and cybersecurity company Cloudflare said DuckDuckGo was the No. 2 most used search engine on mobile and No. 3 overall in the US in December 2025.