Apple uses Google’s Gemini models for Siri in a big deal for AI
Apple is going to use Google’s Gemini AI to improve Siri. This will make Alphabet a bigger player in the market for AI assistants.
As part of a multi-year deal, Apple will use Google’s Gemini models for its updated Siri later this year. This strengthens the partnership between the tech giants in the age of AI and gives Alphabet a better chance to beat OpenAI.
The deal, which was announced on Monday, is a big vote of faith in Google. Its technology already drives a lot of Samsung’s “Galaxy AI,” but the Siri integration lets you use more than two billion active Apple devices.
Google said, “After careful consideration, Apple determined that Google’s AI technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models.” It also said that its models will power other future Apple Intelligence features.
Alphabet has been fighting with OpenAI for the Apple deal, but the terms of the deal’s money were not made public.
Apple built ChatGPT into its devices in late 2024, which let Siri use the chatbot’s skills to answer complicated questions. Reuters asked OpenAI for a comment, but they didn’t reply. Apple said that no major changes were made to the ChatGPT integration at the time.
According to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, this gives Google too much power, since they also own Android and Chrome. Musk said this on the social media site X.
Musk, the founder of the AI company xAI, has been building basic models and spending billions of dollars on infrastructure to try to compete with big names.
The deal made on Monday could hurt OpenAI’s relationship with Apple. Parth Talsania, CEO of Equisights Research, said, “Apple’s choice to use Google’s Gemini models for Siri moves OpenAI into a more supporting role. ChatGPT will still be used for complex, opt-in queries rather than as the default intelligence layer.”
To catch up to OpenAI’s early lead, Google has sped up the development of cutting edge models, such as those that can make images and videos.
Apple was late to the AI race and has had problems like Siri updates being held up, executive changes, and a lackluster response to early creative AI tools.
The deal builds on Apple and Google’s long-standing partnership, which makes Google the default search engine on Apple products. This is a lucrative deal for both companies, as it brings Google a lot of traffic and makes Apple tens of billions of dollars every year.
Alphabet’s market value went over $4 trillion on Monday after news of the deal spread. Last year, its stock went up 65% because investors were optimistic about AI projects.
Concerns about privacy were addressed by Google, which said, “Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy standards.”
