Apple might use Gemini to power its revamped version of Siri, Bloomberg reports, in what could mark one of the company’s most unusual partnerships in recent years.
The companies are reportedly in the early stages of exploring a deal, with Google training a version of its Gemini model that can run directly on Apple’s servers. The move would place one of Apple’s most visible consumer products in the hands of a longtime competitor, underscoring both the pressure Apple faces to deliver in artificial intelligence and the difficulty it has encountered rolling out its own in-house system, Apple Intelligence.
The iPhone maker was previously reported to be considering similar partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic. Internally, Apple is said to be developing two versions of the new Siri: one dubbed Linwood that runs on Apple’s proprietary models, and another codenamed Glenwood that leverages external technology. A final decision has not been made on which model Apple will ultimately adopt, but it is entirely possible the company will lean on its internal models instead of outsourcing.
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For Apple, however, even publicly weighing the option of using Google’s Gemini shows how strained its AI rollout has become. While ceding such a crucial technology to a competitor seems decidedly un-Apple, it is a testament to the challenges the company has faced in bringing its new AI vision to life. Apple included the majority of its new AI features in iOS 18, but failed to ship the promised Siri update capable of drawing on personal data to take actions in apps. In March, Apple was forced to admit the update was delayed, with a new launch timeline now pushed to 2026.
The delay reportedly caused turmoil within Apple, with multiple AI projects being shifted between internal teams and management. That shuffle, coupled with growing investor pressure for Apple to deliver AI features that rival Google and Microsoft, has left the company seriously considering a third-party partnership.
As of the launch of Google’s Pixel 10, Gemini already offers a similar set of capabilities to those Apple originally promised with the new Siri — and could presumably deliver the same experience on iOS with some modifications. Running Gemini on Apple’s servers through its so-called Private Cloud Compute could also give Apple more control and an added layer of security, addressing concerns over user privacy.
Apple had also been planning to offer Gemini as an alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT inside Apple Intelligence, though that option has yet to ship. Should Apple integrate Gemini more deeply into Siri, it would follow a similar path to Samsung, whose Galaxy AI relies on a mix of in-house models and Google’s Gemini.
The development also revives attention to Apple’s long and uneasy history with Google — one of rivalry laced with reluctant cooperation. While the two companies compete fiercely in areas such as smartphones, operating systems, and now AI, Apple has relied on Google Search as the default engine on Safari for years, a partnership that is enormously lucrative for both sides but has attracted sharp antitrust scrutiny. The U.S. Department of Justice has argued that the deal entrenches Google’s dominance in search while leaving users with little real choice.
That uneasy balance — battling Google in hardware and software while leaning on it in search — is now poised to extend into the age of AI. Partnering with Google on Siri could invite criticism that Apple is once again depending on its chief competitor to power one of its flagship products. For Google, embedding Gemini in Apple’s ecosystem could dramatically expand its AI footprint, potentially reaching hundreds of millions of iPhone users worldwide.
The outcome remains uncertain, as Apple has yet to finalize its strategy. But the mere possibility of Siri running on Google’s Gemini is a striking sign of how much the AI race is forcing even the most independent tech giants into unexpected alliances.