Apple could outsources Siri smarts to Google Gemini AI

Apple seems unable to fix its dumb assistant alone, so it’s reportedly turning to Google’s Gemini for Siri brains in another sign of ongoing AI struggles in Cupertino.

It’s never a good sign when your digital assistant needs Google’s genius to deliver on your own failed promises, but that’s exactly what seems to be happening right now as more of Apple’s supposed AI innovation reportedly gets outsourced.

Mark Gurman reports on Bloomberg that Apple is in talks with Google to use its ChatGPT competitor Gemini to power a revamped Siri version that was previewed at the WWDC24 but got delayed because Apple couldn’t build it on its own.

Siri could be powered by Gemini AI

The report states that Google is already training an artificial intelligence (AI) model that is optimized to run on Apple’s servers. The story adds that the iPhone maker could leverage other external AI systems that would run on Apple’s servers via the company’s Private Cloud Compute platform which powers Apple Intelligence.

“The iPhone maker recently approached Alphabet Inc.’s Google to explore building a custom AI model that would serve as the foundation of the new Siri next year,” the report states. “Google has started training a model that could run on Apple’s servers,” according to anonymous sources speaking with the publication.

The report also adds that Apple’s on-device large language model (LLM) codenamed Linwood and external third-party LLMs (codenamed Glenwood) are put in a contest.

“Internally, Apple is holding a bake-off to see which approach will work best,” reads the story. “The company is simultaneously developing two versions of the new Siri: one dubbed Linwood that is powered by its models and another code-named Glenwood that runs on outside technology.”

Gemini also powers Android’s and Samsung’s underlying AI. Earlier rumors pointed to Anthropic as a potential AI partner whose Claude model would supposedly power Siri’s AI revamp. OpenAI was also mentioned as a potential solution to Siri woes, as Apple seems to be struggling to build in-house models that could power the revamped version of its digital assistant.

Apple has dropped the ball

Apple’s AI servers currently use 150 billion parameters, but the company is rumored to be testing a much more powerful server-based model comprising one trillion parameters. To save itself from further embarrassment, Apple appears to be toying with the idea of partnering with external providers to use their AI models for Siri until its own technology catches up.

Apple has said that it will need more time to give Siri a new brain, confirming that Siri will get its AI upgrade sometime in 2026. The company recently began testing the revamped Siri, which led Gurman to speculate back in June that the assistant could launch in the United States as part of iOS 26.4 in spring 2026.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said that his company was making “good progress” on the more personalized, AI-driven Siri. The new features will include onscreen awareness, better understanding of a user’s personal context, the ability to perform complex tasks across apps and more.

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