Apple, Google strike Gemini deal for revamped Siri
Apple will use Google’s Gemini models for its revamped Siri, arriving in late 2026, in a multi-year deal that deepens the tech giants’ alliance in the age of artificial intelligence and strengthens its position in the race against Alphabet’s OpenAI.
The deal, announced on Monday US time, represents a huge vote of confidence for Google.
Its technology already drives much of Samsung’s Galaxy AI, but the Siri deal unlocks a huge market with Apple’s installed base of more than two billion active devices.
“After careful consideration, Apple has determined that Google’s AI technology provides the most capable foundation for the Apple Core Models,” Google said, adding that its models will also power other future Apple Intelligence features.
Alphabet is wrangling with OpenAI over the Apple deal, whose financial details have not been disclosed.
The iPhone maker introduced ChatGPT to its devices in late 2024, allowing the company’s Siri voice assistant to leverage the chatbot’s expertise to answer complex questions.
Apple said there were no major changes to ChatGPT integration at the time, while OpenAI did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
“This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power, given that Google also owns Android and Chrome,” Tesla chief Elon Musk said in a post on social media platform X.
Musk founded his own artificial intelligence firm, xAI, which is trying to compete with other major players in the industry by building basic models and spending billions of dollars on massive infrastructure.
Monday’s merger will likely raise questions about OpenAI’s partnership with Apple. In response to Gemini 3, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman reportedly issued a “code red” in late 2025 to push teams to accelerate development.
“Apple’s decision to use Google’s Gemini models for Siri shifts OpenAI to a more supportive role, leaving ChatGPT positioned for complex, on-demand queries rather than the default intelligence layer,” said Parth Talsania, CEO of Equisights Research.
Google is firing on all cylinders to offset OpenAI’s early industry lead by doubling down on preliminary models and image and video production.
Apple has faced a series of setbacks on the AI front after being late to the race; Siri’s update has been delayed, C-suite changes and the initial release of productive AI tools have been met with a lukewarm response.
The latest deal builds on a years-long partnership that makes Google the default search engine on Apple devices; It’s a lucrative arrangement that allows Apple to generate tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue while increasing Google’s traffic.
News of the deal helped Alphabet’s market value soar to over US$4 trillion ($A6 trillion) on Monday. The stock is up 65 percent in 2025 due to investors’ growing optimism about artificial intelligence efforts.
“Apple Intelligence will continue to work on Apple devices and Private Cloud Computing while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy standards,” Google said in a statement Monday in an attempt to ease privacy concerns.
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