Apple made a clear choice when it decided to overhaul Siri. The company partnered with Google instead of OpenAI. This multi-year deal confirms Google's AI models will power Apple Intelligence features moving forward.
Why Google Won the Contract
Apple conducted extensive testing before making its decision. The company evaluated Google's Gemini, OpenAI's ChatGPT, and Anthropic's Claude earlier this year. Google emerged as the winner for several practical reasons.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that OpenAI hadn't been seriously considered for some time. Apple will pay approximately $1 billion each year for access to a custom Gemini model. This model contains 1.2 trillion parameters, far surpassing Apple's current 150 billion parameter setup.
The Road to Partnership
Anthropic initially appeared as the frontrunner for the Siri partnership. However, negotiations stalled when Anthropic's financial demands proved too high. This forced Apple to expand its search for alternatives.
Google presented a familiar and practical choice. The two companies already maintain a decades-old search partnership. This existing relationship made collaboration smoother.
Privacy Remains Paramount
The Financial Times reveals how Gemini will function within Apple's ecosystem. Google's AI will handle Siri's summarizer and planner components. These features help the assistant process information and complete complex tasks.
Critically, the Gemini model will operate on Apple's Private Cloud Compute servers. This arrangement keeps user data completely separate from Google's infrastructure. For Apple, this privacy protection was absolutely non-negotiable.
Contradictory Reports Emerge
Interesting contradictions appear between different media reports. Gurman's Bloomberg account differs from Financial Times coverage regarding OpenAI's situation.
The Financial Times suggests OpenAI made a conscious decision to avoid becoming Apple's custom model provider. According to their sources, OpenAI preferred focusing on its own hardware projects instead. This reportedly included Jony Ive's AI device development.
Apple's AI Challenges
This partnership highlights Apple's difficult journey in artificial intelligence development. The company delayed its major Siri upgrade from spring 2025 to 2026. Apple also sidelined AI chief John Giannandrea from development work.
Key talent departures further complicated matters. Foundation models head Ruoming Pang left Apple to join Meta. Meanwhile, Apple's research and development spending remained at just 8 percent of revenue.
Competitors invested hundreds of billions into AI infrastructure during this period. One former Apple executive summarized the situation clearly to the Financial Times. The Google deal became necessary because Apple chose not to match competitors' massive AI investments.
Future Development Plans
Apple still intends to develop its own trillion-parameter model eventually. For now, the company believes Google can deliver what Apple's internal teams could not achieve independently.
The existing ChatGPT integration with Apple Intelligence remains active currently. However, analysts express doubts about this arrangement's longevity. Gene Munster from Deepwater Asset Management notes that maintaining two large models makes little economic sense for Apple given scale considerations.
This partnership represents a significant shift in the AI landscape. Two technology giants join forces while another major player finds itself unexpectedly sidelined. The collaboration will shape how millions of users interact with AI through their Apple devices in coming years.
