Apple, a company famous for doing things its own way, seems ready to shake up its approach to artificial intelligence. Reports suggest the tech giant is talking with Google. The goal? To license Google’s Gemini AI model. This move could give Apple’s long-standing virtual assistant, Siri, the smart boost it desperately needs.
This isn’t just a minor tweak; it’s a big shift for Apple. Siri has been waiting for a major upgrade, one that promises to make it much smarter and more helpful. However, that upgrade has faced huge delays. To get past these problems, Apple might be looking to an unexpected partner.
Apple Eyes Google for Siri’s Future
According to journalist Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple has started talks with Google. These discussions are about licensing Gemini, Google’s advanced AI model. Apple wants to bring Gemini into its own system. This means that a core part of Siri’s brain could soon be powered by Google.
Sources close to these talks say Apple was the one to start the conversation. The discussions are still in the early stages, so nothing is final yet. Still, this move shows how much Apple needs to deliver new and powerful generative AI features. Sources also hint that Google is already making a version of Gemini just for Apple’s servers. A final decision could come in the next few weeks.
Apple’s Internal AI Struggles
Siri’s slow progress points to Apple’s trouble keeping up with rivals. Companies like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI have moved much faster in AI. The first try at building the new Siri didn’t go well. This led to a big reorganization of the teams working on it.
The project changed hands from John Giannandrea, Apple’s AI head, to Mike Rockwell. Rockwell is the executive who successfully launched the Apple Vision Pro. But project management isn’t the only issue. Apple has lost many top researchers to competitors like Meta. A key example is Ruoming Pang, who used to lead Apple’s “foundation models” division.
People inside Apple say morale is low among the AI teams. They worry their work might be replaced by outside technology. There have also been some tough internal choices. Software engineering chief Craig Federighi, for instance, reportedly stopped a plan to make some of Apple’s AI open-source. He worried this would show how limited the models were when running on iPhone processors.
While talks with Google seem promising, Apple isn’t putting all its eggs in one basket. The company has also spoken with OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT. They’ve also talked to Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI model. Of course, Apple could still use only its own AI models. But right now, that seems less and less likely to happen anytime soon.