The new and improved Siri digital assistant will be powered by Google’s Gemini according to a new report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg. While earlier this week there was speculation that Apple would turn to Google’s Gemini to power Siri’s AI capabilities, today’s report includes more information including how much Apple will pay Google for the use of its AI LLM model.
Apple will reportedly pay Google $1 billion to use a custom developed 1.2 trillion parameter AI model
Gurman says that Apple will use a custom 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model of Google’s Gemini Large Language Model (LLM). Apple and Google are reportedly working to finalize a deal that would see Apple pay Google $1 billion a year for the right to use Gemini’s LLM model. The report cites people who asked not to be named because the discussions between the two tech giants are private.
The size of the model relates to the complexity of the AI software and is much larger than the current models used by Apple. The plan is for Apple to use Google’s Gemini until Apple’s own models are powerful enough to run the show. Apple had tested models from other potential AI partners including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. But earlier this year Apple reached the conclusion that Google’s Gemini was its best choice, and the two companies appear to be hammering out a deal right now.
The Gemini AI model Apple will reportedly use is much more powerful than Apple’s current in-house model
The 1.2 trillion parameter Gemini AI model that Apple hopes to power Siri with is much larger than the 150 billion parameter model that is used with the cloud-based version of Apple Intelligence. Apple’s heavily criticized AI initiative. Using the larger model should allow Apple Intelligence to be more powerful, understand context better, and process complex data. Digital Assistant Siri is supposed to be the public face of Apple’s AI initiative and delays have supposedly pushed back the launch of the so-called Personal Siri to iOS 26.4 this spring. That update is known inside the bowels of Apple headquarters by the codename Linwood.
Bloomberg’s report says that inside Apple, the plan to use a third-party AI model to beef up Siri is known as Glenwood. Apple is praying that it doesn’t turn out to be dead wood. The project is run by Mike Rockwell, the creator of the Vision Pro headset, along with Craig Federighi, the head of software engineering.
Apple expects to develop its own 1 trillion parameter model that could be in use as early as next year
Apple will use Gemini to help Siri synthesize information and plan how best to handle complicated tasks. The report does note that some of Siri’s capabilities will continue to use Apple’s own models. To keep data from Apple device owners away from Google’s infrastructure, the Gemini model will run on Apple’s own Private Cloud Compute servers. Gurman writes that Apple has already put aside AI servers to run the model.
Mark Gurman tweets out the news about the deal Apple and Google are working on. | Image credit-X
Apple believes that eventually it will be able to develop its own model that will replace Gemini. To that end, the company is said to be working on a 1 trillion parameter cloud-based model that could be ready to be used by consumers as soon as next year. This might be difficult for Apple to accomplish considering that it has been losing some of its AI talent. Right now, Google’s 2.5 Pro version of Gemini is the LLM to beat.
With AI becoming a major feature in smartphones, Google has arguably used AI the best among smartphone manufacturers to create features that are useful to device owners. Using Gemini to replace the Google Assistant on my older Pixel 6 Pro gives me incredibly deep answers to my queries. On my Pixel, I can even use Gemini to set my alarms and timers.
The other huge Apple-Google partnership revolves around the latter’s dominant search engine. In court a few years ago, it was accidentally revealed that Google pays Apple 36% of the advertising revenue generated from search requests on Apple devices. In return, Apple makes Google the default search engine on Safari. In 2022, for example, this deal resulted in a $20 billion payment from Google to Apple. You shouldn’t expect to see Apple promote this new Apple-Google Gemini partnership with “Siri powered by Gemini” boxes in iPhone ads.
