Apple is taking a surprising shortcut to catch up in the artificial intelligence race. Rather than relying solely on its own internal models, the company has struck a deal with Google to use Gemini as the foundation for its upcoming AI features. This partnership means that the core “smarts” of the next major Siri update will essentially be powered by Google’s technology. For many tech observers, this move is a shocking admission that Apple’s own in-house efforts were not moving fast enough to compete with the likes of ChatGPT or Gemini on their own.
The deal specifies that Apple’s “Foundation Models” and cloud-based AI tasks will be built on Gemini and Google’s cloud infrastructure. This is a massive reversal from the promises Apple made during previous developer conferences, where executives emphasized their commitment to building a unique, private, and “in-house” AI architecture. While Apple Intelligence currently handles basic tasks, the more complex reasoning and personalization required for a truly proactive Siri appear to be too difficult for Apple’s current software to handle without outside help. By using Google’s engine, Apple can finally deliver a Siri that understands the context of your apps and data, but it will do so using a rival’s brain.
While some users are happy that Siri will finally become more capable, critics argue that this deal signals a lack of innovation at Apple. For decades, the company has prided itself on controlling both the hardware and the software of its devices. Outsourcing the most critical part of the modern smartphone experience—the AI—is being compared to the failure of the Newton in the 1990s. It suggests that Apple is prioritizing short-term improvements to the user experience over long-term technological independence in the most important category of the decade.
The updated Siri powered by Gemini is expected to roll out later this year as part of a major software update. Most users will notice a significantly smarter voice assistant that can take actions across different apps and provide more accurate answers to complex questions. While the results might be impressive, the fact remains that Apple is now paying its chief competitor to provide the intelligence that was supposed to be its own.
