Apple partners with Google to power new Siri using Gemini AI

In a rare collaboration between two of tech’s fiercest competitors, Apple and Google have announced a multi-year partnership that will see Apple leverage Google’s Gemini models and cloud infrastructure to power upcoming features in its Apple Intelligence suite, including a more advanced, personalized Siri.

The joint announcement reveals that Apple conducted a “careful evaluation” of AI providers before choosing Google’s Gemini as the foundation for the next generation of its internal Foundation Models. While details remain sparse, the agreement marks a significant shift in Apple’s AI strategy, one that brings external large language models into its tightly controlled software ecosystem.

The development suggests that Apple, despite its emphasis on on-device processing and privacy, is willing to rely on external AI infrastructure to bridge performance gaps and accelerate the development of intelligent features. The integration will reportedly still prioritize Apple’s privacy guarantees by running AI services through its Private Cloud Compute framework and maintaining on-device data processing where possible.

Apple Intelligence, first introduced in 2024, is the company’s umbrella term for its AI-powered features embedded across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. These include smart writing tools, context-aware suggestions, and an improved Siri assistant. While Apple has long been known for its in-house development, its models have lagged behind competitors in benchmarks, especially when compared to cutting-edge offerings from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.

Google’s Gemini, launched in late 2023 and now in its third major iteration, offers multimodal capabilities with tight integration across text, code, images, and video. Available in both consumer-facing products and enterprise APIs, Gemini models have demonstrated strong performance in reasoning, instruction following, and long-context understanding. The models have also been optimized for deployment via Google Cloud, which Apple will now be utilizing under this partnership.

Despite being rivals in mobile operating systems, browser dominance, and app marketplaces, Apple and Google have maintained business ties for years, most notably with Google Search as the default engine in Safari, a deal reportedly worth billions annually. This new AI-focused collaboration adds a surprising new dimension to that relationship, with Apple effectively outsourcing a key component of its next-generation user experience to a direct competitor.

Privacy remains a central concern for Apple’s user base, and both firms emphasized that Apple Intelligence will still operate under Apple’s strict privacy framework. The Private Cloud Compute system, introduced in 2024, uses dedicated Apple servers with hardware attestation and ephemeral memory to process user requests securely while ensuring no persistent logs or data storage outside the user’s device.

For users, the outcome of this partnership will first be visible in an updated Siri rollout expected later this year. Apple has promised a more personalized assistant, capable of understanding context and handling multi-step tasks, features that current versions have struggled with.