Apple’s AI assistant Siri could be getting an upgrade from an unlikely source in the near future.
The California-based tech firm is reportedly set to pay Google approximately $1 billion per year to access a version of the Gemini artificial intelligence model, according to Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman.
Google Gemini is a multimodal AI model designed to understand and generate text, images, audio, and code. Apple plans to deploy a customised version of the AI system to enhance its voice assistant Siri with more sophisticated capabilities.
For instance, Gemini could be primarily focusing on two key areas: creating summaries of information and assisting users with planning-related activities, such as organising schedules or coordinating tasks.
However, it’s been said that Google will not be controlling all of Siri’s features, and Apple will continue to use its own models for certain tasks.
Google’s Gemini is a suite of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, including generative image creation and written answers from a short text prompt — like what you’d expect from rival ChatGPT | GOOGLE PRESS OFFICE
Rather than processing everything on users’ devices, the Gemini-powered features would operate through Apple’s Private Cloud Compute infrastructure, which are secure servers designed specifically for handling sensitive AI tasks.
The arrangement would see Google’s technology working alongside Apple’s own, internally developed models, which will continue to power certain Siri functions.
The custom Gemini model would boast an impressive 1.2 trillion parameters — the numerical values that would be needed to help AI systems generate intelligent responses.
To put this in perspective, Apple’s current cloud-based Apple Intelligence system relies on a model with just 150 billion parameters, making Google’s offering roughly eight times more powerful.
This substantial increase in computational capacity should enable Siri to handle more complex requests with greater accuracy.
Siri was first launched on October 4, 2011 and was a key feature in the iPhone 4S when it was released
|
APPLE PRESS OFFICE
Before settling on Google, Apple had explored partnerships with rival AI firms OpenAI and Anthropic to power its revamped voice assistant, Bloomberg reported back in June.
Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook confirmed to investors that the enhanced Siri would launch in the spring, while indicating that the company remains open to additional third-party AI collaborations within Apple Intelligence.
Despite the possible Google partnership, Apple continues building its own proprietary AI technology — a move that could eventually allow the company to replace Gemini entirely with homegrown solutions.
