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Ahead of iPhone 17 launch, Apple is likely exploring another partnership to make its AI voice assistant Siri stronger and advanced than before. According to Bloomberg’s latest report, the tech giant is in early conversation with Google to license its Gemini AI for a major Siri overhaul.
Although it’s not yet officially confirmed, this development hints at a strategic shift that Apple has been looking for in its iPhone lineup. Reports indicate that Apple is working on how to create a custom Gemini model to revamp Siri, with an expected launch in 2026.
As the AI race becomes more aggressive, tech giants are leaving no stone unturned to strengthen their market position. With Meta and xAI competing hard for the top position in the AI industry, Apple has been falling back. The tech giant is now trying to explore a very different strategy and is looking for a partnership with Google to use its AI technology, instead of developing its own.
Through this collaboration, Google Gemini will be trained to run on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers and adhere to Apple’s privacy-first architecture. However, this is not the first time this tech giant has approached a company for this discussion. Previously, Apple discussed this same thing with OpenAI and Claude.
The recent report indicates that Google has been training a Gemini model for iPhones. Still, nothing has yet been officially confirmed between these two companies, and the discussions are in a preliminary stage.
Only the update of this discussion has raised Alphabet’s stock by 3% and Apple’s share rose by 1%. If the partnership happens, it will be a significant advancement in what the company promised to be Siri 2.0.
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This discussion hints at a significant landmark for both companies. If it happens, Apple will shift from its traditional in-house AI development strategy to a more strategic partnership to power its AI assistant.
If Siri 2.0 gets Gemini integration, it will enhance the AI assistant’s conversational ability, multimodal understanding, and contextual intelligence, covering all the areas where Apple’s voice assistance lags behind its competitors, like Google Assistant and others.
However, this partnership will make Apple heavily reliant on Google, which may raise questions about the company’s control over its core services and brand identity. Additionally, such a deal may bring antitrust issues and tensions between these companies in the future, worsening the scenario.
Apple’s strategic move to Gemini underscores its urgency to adopt Generative AI trends and stay relevant in this race. With the help of Google’s technology, Apple’s AI assistant will gain enhanced capabilities, boosting the iPhone 17’s popularity among users.
However, there’s a different side as well. This collaboration requires the tech giant to outsource Siri’s ‘brain’ to a long-standing rival. This may cause greater issues in the future. Anyway, whether this move will make the iPhone attractive or make things worse will depend on how this strategy is executed.
