Remember those rumors about how Apple could team up with Google, and use a custom Gemini AI model to power the upcoming upgrades to Siri? Well, it looks like that might well be happening, with Bloomberg reporting that Apple is now planning to pay Google $1 billion a year for an "ultrapowerful 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model."
We've heard reports about the possibility of this happening, but at the time, Apple had yet to make a decision on which AI company it would be partnering with. Speculation has focused on Google, Anthropic and ChatGPT-creators OpenAI — the latter of which already has a partnership with Apple, answering questions and performing tasks that Siri can't handle on its own.
Why the Google deal matters
Sources speaking to Bloomberg claim that Apple wants Google's help to rebuild the underlying technology behind Siri. Past reports claimed that Apple had attempted to build the new AI-powered Siri on top of the old virtual assistant, in an attempt to catch up with its rivals. However, this apparently didn't work, causing various problems throughout the process, and it's claimed that this attempt is part of the reason why the upgrade has been delayed so long.
Bloomberg itself previously reported that the Google deal was only an interim solution until it was able to develop its own in-house AI models that are powerful enough to do the job. For reference, Apple Intelligence's current models only handle 150 billion parameters, so there's a lot of catching up that needs to be done.
Gemini is reportedly going to handle Siri's summarizing and planning features, which focus on synthesizing information and executing complex tasks. However, Google will not be controlling all of Siri's features, and Apple will continue to use its own models for certain tasks — though it isn't specified what they might be.
Apple's keeping control
The model is also expected to run on Apple's Private Cloud compute servers, which ensures user information is kept secure, in Apple's hands and away from any Google infrastructure. Bloomberg also speculates that it'll be different to deal that pushes Google as the default Search engine in Safari, in that Apple is unlikely to talk about Google's involvement with Siri publicly.
Siri's long-overdue upgrade is still expected to launch at some point next Spring, with reports suggesting it'll come with the iOS 26.4 update. Here's hoping Apple can stick to that deadline, because we've waited long enough for it to fulfill its initial Apple Intelligence promises.
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