*By Chloe Aiello* Apple talks a big game on customer privacy ー but that hasn't stopped it from making billions through its partnership with ad-based search engine Google. In an interview with Axios on Sunday, Apple ($AAPL) CEO Tim Cook defended his company's relationship with the world's leading search engine and discussed the potential for regulation in tech, which he considers inevitable. "I think their search engine is the best. Look at what we've done with the controls we've built in. We have private web browsing. We have an intelligent tracker prevention," [Cook said](https://www.axios.com/tim-cook-interview-apple-google-axios-on-hbo-dab905ce-26b4-4450-b177-11ad46d1e13a.html). "It's not a perfect thing. I'd be the very first person to say that. But it goes a long way to helping." Axios' chief technology correspondent Ina Fried said it is not particularly surprising that Cook took the opportunity to emphasize Apple's efforts to protect its users. "Apple talks a lot about how it sells products that customers pay for, whereas Google and Facebook are selling you and your data," Fried told Cheddar on Monday. Cook has been unusually vocal about what he sees as shortcomings in Silicon Valley's handling of user data. [At a conference in Brussels last month,](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerbergs-earnings-candor-might-just-be-a-smart-political-move) Cook took tech rivals to task for using customer data for profit, without naming any company directly. Cook took a similar tone over the weekend when he argued that regulations are likely inevitable for technology companies that have failed to regulate themselves. "I'm a big believer in the free market. But we have to admit when the free market is not working. And it hasn't worked here. I think it's inevitable that there will be some level of regulation," [Cook told Axios.](https://www.axios.com/axios-on-hbo-tim-cook-interview-apple-regulation-6a35ff64-75a3-4e91-986c-f281c0615ac2.html) Despite fielding tough questions about Apple's partnership with Google, Fried said Cook was very much on the offensive. "The product they want to pitch, the thing they want people to know is that they actually have a different stance than the rest of the tech industry, on privacy, on regulation, on some of these issues," she said. "What you are seeing is smart messaging." For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/tim-cook-says-apple-will-embrace-inevitable-data-regulations).
