Apple picks Google's Gemini to run AI-powered Siri coming this year

Apple is joining forces with Google to power its artificial intelligence features, including a major Siri upgrade expected later this year.
The multiyear partnership will lean on Google's Gemini and cloud technology for future Apple foundational models, according to a joint statement obtained by CNBC's Jim Cramer.
"After careful evaluation, we determined that Google's technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and we're excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for our users," Apple said in a statement Monday.
The models will continue to run on Apple devices and the company's private cloud compute, the companies added.
Apple declined to comment on the terms of the deal. Google referred CNBC to the joint statement.
In August, Bloomberg reported that Apple was in early talks with Google to use a custom Gemini model to power a new iteration of Siri. The news outlet later reported that Apple was planning to pay about $1 billion a year to utilize Google AI.
The deal is another major indicator of growing trust in Google's accelerating AI agenda and comeback against OpenAI. In 2025, the search giant logged its best year since 2009 and surpassed Apple in market capitalization last week for the first time since 2019.
Google already pays Apple billions each year to be the default search engine on iPhones. But that lucrative partnership briefly came into question after Google was found to hold an illegal internet search monopoly.
In September, a judge ruled against a worst-case scenario outcome that could have forced Google to divest its Chrome browser business.
The decision also allowed Google to continue to make deals such as the one with Apple.
Read more CNBC tech newsShares climbed following the news but later pulled back. Google briefly touched above a $4 trillion market value.
Apple has mostly stood on the sidelines of the AI frenzy that's swept up Wall Street since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT at the end of 2022.
Hyperscalers Amazon, Meta Platforms and Microsoft have shelled out billions on AI products, tools and infrastructure for their customers.
That's amped up the pressure on the iPhone maker to deliver an impressive Siri AI voice upgrade, which it delayed last year until 2026, despite running ads for the product.
"It's going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year," the company said in a statement at the time.
Apple currently partners with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence, specifically for complicated queries that can tap into the AI model's world knowledge. It's unclear what the Google partnership means for the ChatGPT integration in the future.
The iPhone maker told CNBC that it isn't making any changes to the agreement. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, Google has made steady progress on its AI agenda, introducing its upgraded Gemini 3 model late last year.
In October, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company's cloud segment signed more deals worth over $1 billion through the third quarter of 2025 than the previous two years combined.
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