Siri gets a brain from Google

Samuel Buchmann

13/1/2026

Translation: machine translated

Apple's voice assistant Siri will run on Google Gemini in future. Apple is reportedly paying around one billion US dollars per year for the deal.

Apple is relying on Google's artificial intelligence (AI) Gemini for the upcoming modernisation of Siri. Both companies confirmed a multi-year partnership. After a thorough review, Apple came to the conclusion that Google's LLM is the best basis for Apple's «Foundation Model». The technology would enable innovative new features for users, according to the press release.

The new Siri is expected later this year. It will be able to better understand user context and perform tasks in and between apps. The launch was originally planned for early 2025. However, Apple postponed the function due to development difficulties. The collaboration with Google is likely to be an attempt to make up for this delay. The two companies are already cooperating in the search engine sector.

Gemini 3, Google's current flagship AI model, is designed as a multimodal system. This means it can process text, images, video and audio. The latest version topped the AI leaderboards and is considered one of the best LLMs on the market.

Operation on Apple's own servers

According to reports, the agreement is not exclusive. Previously, Apple is said to have evaluated alternatives such as OpenAI and Anthropic. The companies do not provide financial details. It is estimated that Apple pays around one billion US dollars per year for access to Gemini. A lot of money - conversely, Google has been paying around 20 billion US dollars a year for a long time so that it remains the default search on the iPhone.

Apple emphasises that the Gemini-supported cloud version of «Apple Intelligence» will continue to be operated on its own servers - the so-called «Private Cloud Compute». In this way, Cupertino wants to remain true to its data protection principles. According to «Bloomberg», Apple has tested a customised version of Gemini so that LLM can run on its own hardware. It is not known whether the final model is such a custom solution.

Samuel Buchmann

Senior Editor

Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.ch

My fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.

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