Apple Officially Confirms Google Gemini Crutch For The Revamped Siri

In what is an official quasi-concession of sorts to the shortcomings of its own AI-related efforts, Apple has now confirmed that a Google Gemini-based crutch for its revamped Siri is in the offing later this year, stamping a seal of authenticity over earlier reports that said so.

Apple Intelligence Foundation Models and the new Siri to be powered by a gigantic Google Gemini model 

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported back in November 2025 that Apple was planning to use a gigantic, albeit tailored, Gemini AI model to power its upcoming revamped Siri. With 1.2 trillion parameters under its belt, the customized Gemini model would "dwarf" the 1.5 billion-parameter, bespoke AI model that Apple currently uses to power Siri in the cloud. In return, Gurman said that Apple was planning to pay Google up to $1 billion per year.

For the benefit of those who might not be aware, the upcoming revamped Siri will have three major components:

1. Query planner - this is Siri's decision-making layer that decides on the most efficient route to fulfill a given user request, with available options including web search, accessing personal data such as calendar entries or photos, or using a third-party app via App Intents, which itself is a framework that makes a given app discoverable and usable by Siri, allowing users to perform certain in-app actions without having to physically open the app.
2. Knowledge search system - Siri will gain a general knowledge database to answer trivia and general queries without having to resort to ChatGPT, other third-party AI integrations, or web-based results.
3. Summarizer - this is a core tool within Apple Intelligence, allowing Siri to leverage third-party AI models such as ChatGPT to summarize a given text or audio snippet, and includes notification summaries, Safari webpage summaries, writing tools, etc.

Under Apple's purported AI-related architecture, the customized Gemini model from Google would handle Siri's query planner and summarizer functions, leaving the Knowledge search system to Apple's on-device LLMs, also known as Foundation Models under the ambit of Apple Intelligence.

Do note that Apple has been working to introduce a number of key Apple Intelligence features with its Spring 2026 iOS update (iOS 26.4). These include:

1. In-app Actions
   • Siri would be able to carry out context-based tasks within supported apps via voice commands. This includes adding an item to a grocery list, sending a message through the messaging app, or playing music.
2. Personal Context Awareness
   • Siri would soon be able to leverage personal data to offer tailored services such as scouring the Messages app to find a specific podcast mentioned in a text conversation.
3. On-Screen Awareness
   • Siri will soon gain the ability to understand the content that is on the screen and perform a number of agentic tasks as a result.

Now, in a statement to CNBC, Apple has confirmed its employment of a Google Gemini model to power Siri in the cloud:

"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."

Google also subsequently confirmed the development, adding that Apple's next-gen Foundational Models would also run on Gemini:

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Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google's Gemini models and cloud technology. These models will help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized…

— News from Google (@NewsFromGoogle) January 12, 2026

This comes as Tim Cook noted during Apple's last earnings call that the Cupertino giant was making "good progress" on the new Siri under the banner of Apple Intelligence, and that the revamped voice assistant remained on course for a 2026 launch.

Additionally, when asked about Apple's plan for integrating other AI models with Siri, Tim Cook responded by stating that Apple’s "intention is to integrate with more people over time," strongly suggesting that Apple continues to lay the groundwork for Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard launched by Anthropic that allows interoperability between AI models and various applications. Currently, only OpenAI's ChatGPT is integrated with Apple's Siri under the Apple Intelligence banner.

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