Apple picks Google's Gemini for AI-powered Siri upgrade
What's the story
Apple has announced a partnership with Google to enhance its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, including a major upgrade of Siri. The long-term collaboration will leverage Google's Gemini and cloud technology for future Apple foundational models. "After careful evaluation, we determined that Google's technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and we're excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for our users," said Apple in a statement.
Tech integration
Apple's AI features to run on its private cloud
The Gemini models will be integrated into Apple devices and run on the company's private cloud computing. The tech giant has not commented on the deal's terms. In August, Bloomberg reported that Apple was in talks with Google over a custom Gemini model for a new version of Siri. The report also said that Apple was likely to pay around $1 billion annually for Google AI services.
Project timeline
Apple's AI upgrade delayed to 2026
Apple has been relatively quiet amid the AI boom since OpenAI's ChatGPT launch in November 2022. Other tech giants like Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft have invested billions in AI products and infrastructure for their customers. This has increased pressure on Apple to deliver an impressive Siri AI voice upgrade, which was pushed to 2026 despite being advertised at WWDC 2024.