Apple has now confirmed its first-of-its-kind multi-year partnership with Google to support its upcoming artificial intelligence functionality as well as the long-awaited Siri assistant update, which remains the most significant development in the company’s recent history.
Under the terms, Apple would utilize the Gemini AI models and cloud technologies developed by Google to power future Apple Foundation Models. Both of these companies announced the coming availability of these AI functionalities later in the year.
In the joint statement released Monday, Apple stated the following: “After careful consideration, we have decided that the best technology platform for our Apple Foundation Models is Google’s technology, and we are looking forward to the new experiences it will enable for our users.”
However, this partnership, according to Apple, will not mean that the AI models will stop functioning inside the Apple devices and the infrastructure of the Apple Private Cloud Compute, as this will enable it to continue valuing privacy and compute on devices above all else.
A pragmatic shift for Apple’s AI strategies
This agreement mirrors Apple’s increasingly pragmatic stance on artificial intelligence, having adopted a relatively cautious stance in the market for the past few years. This is especially true, considering the rapid developments in the field of Generative AI, particularly the launch of ChatGPT towards the end of 2022. Apple has adopted a sidelines role.
However, this kind of approach reached the heat when the launch of smart phones with AI capabilities by companies such as Samsung, Google, and Microsoft entered the scene. Furthermore, the company had announced the development of an advanced AI Siri assistant the previous year, which later postponed to 2026 even after the advertisement promotion campaign.
“It’s going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features,” Apple admitted in those days.
According to experts, the reason why Google is colliding with Microsoft is that it takes time and money to create these models.
What it means for Siri and Apple users
Consumers may see in this partnership the realization of that long-held vision of what life will be like with Siri. The new assistant will be expected to be conversational, be aware of context, and tackle difficult tasks on applications that, until now, have not required this from its assistants.
Apple stated that the Gemini-enabled functionalities will be integrated into its overall artificial intelligence infrastructure, Apple Intelligence, unveiled in 2024. Notably, the firm emphasized that Apple Intelligence will continue to run on its private cloud infrastructure instead of public cloud infrastructure available in the open cloud.
Apple is in agreement with OpenAI, whereby ChatGPT capabilities are incorporated in Siri when the question being asked has enough complexity to require world knowledge. According to a report by CNBC, Apple has affirmed that the new agreement with Google has not influenced their former agreement with OpenAI.
There is no response available from the OpenAI team related to the announcement
The strategy would appear to be an indication that the plan by Apple may involve a series of models that would be provided by a range of AI developers, a common practice among large tech companies that share similar ambitions.
For Google, this is a massive thumbs up to its quick pace of development in the AI sector. With complaints about missing the bus in the early development stages of the Generative AI by OpenAI, Google has now gained its ground by accelerating its Gemini development at warp speed and cloud adoption.
Google reported its strongest year since 2009 in 2025, briefly surpassing the market value of Apple for the first time since 2019. Google CEO Sundar Pichai had earlier stated that its cloud business had seen more mega deals with its artificial intelligence in 2025 than the previous two years combined.
The partnership between Apple and Apple also continues an already profitable relationship. Google pays billions of dollars to Apple every year for remaining the search engine choice for iPhones, closely watched by regulators.
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Regulatory questions ahead
This news will likely draw the interest of regulators in the U.S., Europe, and the UK. Apple and Google both accused of having too much market power and dubbed by the UK as having the power of a “duopoly” in mobile ecosystems.
The precedent set in previous leaks indicated that Google has a budget in excess of $26 billion in a year just for securing the default status on all platforms, including the Apple platform. The case in the United States last year that Google had to divest Chrome did not happen.
As a result, analysts warn, while consumers may welcome better AI features, the deal could seem to further entrench Big Tech dominance to policymakers.
The big picture
Ultimately, Apple’s resort to Google’s Gemini represents a shift in approach: speed and capability seem just as important as control nowadays. With AI going to the very core of how people will be interacting with their devices, Apple appears to cede some of its traditional self-reliance as a hedge against falling further behind.
For Siri—and Apple’s AI ambitions—the deal could be a game-changer.
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