Apple is close to a deal with Google that would see the iPhone maker pay about $1 billion a year for a custom version of Google’s Gemini AI model to power its Siri overhaul, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
This move is a big one for Apple. Apple has relied on its own technology so far, but plans to use Google’s model as a temporary solution until its own AI is powerful enough to power upcoming new features for its voice assistant.
The custom AI model’s 1.2 trillion parameters (a measure of software complexity and functionality) will far exceed the level of Apple’s current model. For comparison, the current cloud-based version of Apple Intelligence uses 150 billion parameters, which means Google’s models are roughly eight times more complex.
Apple also considered using AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic earlier this year. After testing models from all three companies, Apple chose to move forward with its partnership with Google.
According to Bloomberg, the completely revamped Siri will be available next spring. However, as the launch is still several months away, the improvement plans are subject to change.
