Apple and Google today released a joint statement announcing that Google Gemini will not only power Apple’s more personalized Siri virtual assistant, but also a range of other Apple Intelligence feature.
Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology. These models will help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri coming this year.
After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google’s Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users. Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy standards.
Apple’s decision to rely on Google’s artificial intelligence technology should result in the new version of Siri being more capable and advanced than it otherwise would have been, thanks to using Gemini’s large language model, which is significantly larger than Apple’s own model.
Apple is expected to debut the next-generation Siri alongside the release of iOS 26.4, which will likely see a public release sometime in the March/April timeframe.
Apple first announced its new personalized Siri, as well as other upcoming new Apple Intelligence features at WWDC 2024, unfortunately, Apple faced several delays in releasing the new features. Apple’s development problems have led to today’s joint announcement.
Apple currently partners with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence. It’s unclear what the Google partnership will mean for the ChatGPT integration in the future. However, the iPhone maker told CNBC that it isn’t making any changes to the agreement. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
However, as you might imagine, some competitors are less than pleased about today’s announcement. Elon Musk has expressed concern about Apple and Google partnering, saying “This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that [they] also have Android and Chrome.”
Musk serves is the CEO of xAI, the company that’s behind Gemini competitor Grok.
