Apple plans significant Siri upgrade leveraging Google AI.

Apple is reportedly poised to integrate a customized version of Google’s Gemini model into Siri, marking a significant upgrade for the voice assistant, according to sources familiar with the matter. This strategic move underscores Apple’s ambition to enhance Siri’s capabilities in areas such as generating summaries and efficiently handling complex planning tasks. The potential deal could see Apple paying Google approximately $1 billion annually for access to Gemini’s advanced AI technology.

The integration strategy reportedly involves leveraging Apple’s Private Cloud Compute infrastructure to run the custom Gemini model, ensuring user data privacy while simultaneously capitalizing on Google’s AI prowess. Apple intends to maintain its own systems for certain aspects of Siri’s functionality, creating a hybrid approach. Insiders indicate that the Gemini model under consideration boasts a staggering 1.2 trillion parameters, dwarfing the 150 billion parameters currently powering Apple Intelligence’s cloud-based iterations. This dramatic increase in parameters suggests a considerable leap in Siri’s ability to understand and process information.

The move towards a Google-powered Siri reflects the intensifying competition in the AI space and Apple’s proactive approach to staying relevant. While Apple has historically emphasized in-house development, the accelerating advancements in large language models (LLMs) have seemingly prompted the company to embrace external partnerships to bridge capability gaps. This decision points to the fact that Apple’s internal AI infrastructure is playing catch-up to the competition which could potentially see Siri’s capabilities lag behind competing platforms.

Sources suggest that Apple rigorously evaluated other AI solutions, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, before settling on Google’s Gemini earlier this year. The intent is to utilize Gemini as a strategic stopgap while Apple continues to develop its own proprietary AI technology, presumably aiming for eventual self-reliance in the long term. However, Apple’s progress could depend on its ability to mitigate the ongoing challenge of talent retention after the company has experienced a loss of AI engineers including the head of its models team.

The revamped Siri, internally codenamed “Linwood” and tied to the “Glenwood” project spearheaded by Vision Pro’s Mike Rockwell and software chief Craig Federighi, is tentatively slated for release in iOS 26.4 next spring. It’s important to note that due to the developmental timeline, aspects of the plan remain subject to change. Neither Apple nor Google have officially commented on the reported agreement.

News of the potential collaboration triggered a modest uptick in both companies’ stock prices, with Apple (AAPL) gaining less than 1% to $271.70 and Alphabet (GOOGL) climbing as much as 3.2% to $286.42. The market reaction reflects investor confidence in both companies’ ability to capitalize on the growing demand for advanced AI capabilities.

Under the proposed arrangement, the custom Gemini model would primarily underpin Siri’s “summarizer” and “planner” functions, enhancing its aptitude for information comprehension and decision-making. Apple’s in-house models will continue to handle specific tasks and responses, ensuring a blend of capabilities. A critical aspect of the architecture is the deployment of the Gemini model on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers, designed to maintain user data isolation from Google’s systems.

While this collaboration represents a significant undertaking, Apple is not expected to overtly promote Google’s involvement to consumers. Similar to Google’s quietly underpinning Safari search, the impact of Gemini will likely manifest as improved Siri performance without explicit Google branding. This approach allows Apple to maintain its brand identity while leveraging external technological expertise.

Notably, this agreement is distinct from previous discussions regarding the direct integration of Gemini as a chatbot within Siri. While those talks nearly materialized on two occasions, they ultimately did not progress. The current deal also avoids incorporating Google’s AI-powered search functionalities directly into Apple’s operating systems, leaving Siri’s search behavior unchanged. The current plan does not preclude Apple from adding more chatbot options, beyond ChatGPT, to Siri capabilities in the future.

This strategic move further highlights the growing adoption of Gemini by prominent companies. Several major firms are reportedly building products using Google’s Vertex AI platform. For Apple, the decision could reflect an acceptance of external development and tools to address its challenges. Still, Apple intends to develop its own AI technology and over time, replace Google’s system within Siri.

Apple also aims to bring Apple Intelligence and the updated Siri to China. Because Google services are banned in the country, the system used there will not rely on Gemini. Instead, Apple plans to use its own models along with a content filter built by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to meet government regulations. Apple’s reliance on Alibaba in China signals their strategy for navigating complex regulatory landscapes while adapting their AI offerings to regional requirements.