Apple's Major AI Move: Google Gemini Powers Next-Gen Siri

News this week reveals that Apple, a top device maker for decades, is upping the ante with its relationship to Google, the company that revolutionized Internet search in the 1990s, and is now on its way to dominating other fields like file sharing and email. Here’s the joint statement from the two companies verbatim; it’s short and sweet: “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 Siri coming this year. After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google's Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users. Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple's industry-leading privacy standards.” In stating that “Google's Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models,” which is syntactically confusing, Apple is noting that it wants to buy, not build, in terms of the models running elements on Apple devices. Previously, Apple has been using proprietary Apple foundation models that have an estimated three billion parameters and utilize a mixture-of-experts (MoE) design. By picking Gemini for Siri, Apple is signaling a shift toward vendor provisions over in-house spinups. "(The deal) acknowledges Google as a leader in this space that's trusted for the foundational model piece," Mark Beccue of Omdia said, according to reporting by Shaun Sutner at AI Business. "And now Apple doesn't have to reinvent the wheel. It realizes there's no money to be made in building models itself." MORE FOR YOU A Track Record Another aspect of this is Apple’s standing partnership with Google, which is perhaps most exemplified by the use of Chrome on Macbooks. Not every user likes Apple pushing the Google browser for a Macintosh laptop, or an iPhone, but that’s what’s going on, with Apple “making it easy” to switch from Safari. “Although plenty of web browsers are freely available for you to download on your platform of choice, only Apple device owners have the privilege of using Safari,” writes Michael Muchmore at PCMag. “But how does Apple's first-party web browser compare with Google Chrome, the most popular browser on every platform except iOS? After all, you should use the browser that works best for you, regardless of what the market share numbers say.” Some users generally prefer to stick with Safari. Here’s one result of the coercion, though. “I've been juggling between Chrome and Safari for over 10 years now,” writes power user Henrik Carlsson in an Apple forum. “Although I'd prefer sticking to Safari exclusively, the reality is that I often find myself resorting to Chrome, especially when dealing with websites like financial, business and marketing tools/services. Some sites even display cautious warnings, signaling that Safari lacks full support. My preference for Safari stems from its password management and seamless integration with my other Apple devices.” Will Apple do the same with Siri, trying to get users to sign onto using Gemini actively for all kinds of daily functions? Who knows? Generally speaking, it’s not a great idea to try to get masses of users to switch to a different operating system, or browser, or anything. Let’s see what happens. Was Apple Jilted? Some rumors online have it that OpenAI previously indicated the company did not want this role as Apple’s model maker. Rajat Saini at Mac Observer cites “an unnamed person” familiar with the situation, in lieu of any actual remarks on the record from the likes of Sam Altman. But even implicitly, if OpenAI did choose to continue its own efforts instead of diversifying to become Siri’s engine, then it makes more sense that Apple turned to Google. AI Ramifications In terms of how this will affect the AI market as we hurtle toward the Singularity, you’d expect Google to get a lot richer, and gain prominence as the engine for a household name in smartphone devices. However, many experts would hold that a new interface is coming – one where you don’t have to carry around an expensive brick, talk to it and stare at it and type on its tiny touchscreen. Stay tuned.