Apple to ‘lean’ on Google for Siri revamp, Gemini set to be the brain behind AI assistant: Report

Apple's Siri upgrade, powered by Google's Gemini, is set for March next year, with a focus on improved AI features. This aligns with Apple's ongoing collaboration with Google and a commitment to enhance its voice assistant's functionality.

Apple's long-delayed Siri revamp could be powered by Gemini as the Cupertino-based tech giant 'leans' on Google to power the big upgrade to its voice assistant, according to a new report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apart from the Siri upgrade, Apple is also said to power a new AI-powered web search feature using Gemini.

Reportedly, Apple had held a bake-off earlier in the year between Anthropic and Google and while it found Claude models better, Gemini made better financial sense for the company. Apple already has a search partnership in place with Google where the Gemini maker pays the company to have its search engine as default on iPhone. Apple is now said to be paying Google to create a custom Gemini-based model which can run on its private cloud servers.

Gurman, however, points out that using Gemini does not mean that iPhones would get 'flooded' with the AI features found on Android devices. Instead, Siri will be powered by a model which can provide AI features that users expect along with an Apple user interface.

As for the launch timeline, Apple is still said to be planning to roll out the new Siri revamp in March next year, which could be accompanied by the release of new smart home products.

Notably, the Siri revamp was first unveiled at Apple's WWDC 2024 conference where the company showed the voice assistant's abilities regarding on-screen awareness, personal context understanding, and cross-app actions. If this were to have materialized, it would have helped the voice assistant become a "hands-free" controller for the iPhone, as Apple intended.

Instead, Siri is now relying on ChatGPT for answering more difficult queries from users, and the voice assistant is facing growing competition from a wave of AI startups.

Meanwhile, Apple is said to unveil iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, and more at the company's WWDC event next year. The new software versions are said to be accompanied by major updates to Apple Intelligence and the broader AI strategy.

On April 1, Apple will also mark 50 years of its existence, and the company is planning a number of launches to mark that milestone. Among the major launches slated for next year is the first foldable iPhone that the company could unveil at the September launch event. The phone is reported to come with the company's in-house C2 chip, ditching the Qualcomm modem instead.

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