Apple is close to sealing 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 an overhauled Siri, according to Bloomberg.
The arrangement would represent a major step for Apple as it seeks to reinvent its voice assistant and expand its artificial intelligence ecosystem after years of lagging behind competitors.
The proposed partnership forms part of a fast-growing wave of AI-driven deal-making sweeping through the technology industry. Once bitter rivals in the smartphone and software markets, Apple and Google now find themselves bound by mutual need — Apple for advanced AI capabilities to power its devices, and Google for high-value partnerships to cement Gemini’s dominance in a rapidly consolidating AI market.
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Under the reported agreement, Apple would gain access to a version of Google’s Gemini model specifically tailored for Siri and other iPhone features. With 1.2 trillion parameters, the model’s complexity and reasoning power far exceed Apple’s current in-house “Apple Intelligence” system, which runs on 150 billion parameters. The upgrade would allow Siri to perform more natural, context-aware tasks, marking the assistant’s biggest leap forward since its introduction more than a decade ago.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, Apple had also tested AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic before choosing to move forward with Google. The decision reportedly followed months of internal evaluation, with Google’s Gemini emerging as the most capable and reliable option for Apple’s immediate needs.
The new Siri, powered by Gemini, is expected to debut next spring, although the timeline could still change depending on technical integration challenges or regulatory scrutiny.
This isn’t the first time Apple and Google have entered into a multibillion-dollar partnership. Google already pays Apple an estimated $18 billion to $20 billion annually to remain the default search engine on Safari across iPhones and other Apple devices. That arrangement, which forms a key part of both companies’ revenue streams, has faced antitrust scrutiny in the United States and Europe. This new AI deal, if finalized, is expected to deepen that relationship further, extending their cooperation into the next frontier of digital technology — artificial intelligence.
Tech giants are increasingly striking cross-company deals to share resources, models, and infrastructure. In recent months, Microsoft has invested billions in OpenAI, Amazon has partnered with Anthropic, and Meta has sought to license its Llama models to hardware manufacturers.
For Apple, the potential deal with Google is as much about necessity as it is about strategy. The company has trailed its peers in launching generative AI products and faces growing pressure from investors and consumers to catch up. Apple aims to balance short-term competitiveness with long-term autonomy by leveraging Google’s technology while continuing to develop its own large language models.
Analysts believe the collaboration could transform Siri into a more conversational, adaptive, and capable assistant — one that can handle nuanced queries, summarize information, and perform multi-step tasks that go beyond voice commands. If successful, it could also signal Apple’s willingness to take a more open approach to partnerships in the AI era, a significant shift from its historically insular ecosystem.
Apple’s deal with Google may prove to be a defining moment — not just for Siri’s evolution, but for the Cupertino giant’s AI adoption.