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Apple is partnering with Google to power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri, slated to arrive later this year.
In a joint statement released today, Apple said that after "careful evaluation," it has deemed Google's AI technology as "the most capable for Apple Foundation Models."
The multi-year collaboration means the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google's Gemini models and cloud technology." Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices, when applicable, as well as in the company's Private Cloud Compute network, which maintains strict privacy standards.
Though Apple Intelligence offers many features, the most important, and elusive, has been the more personalized version of Siri. First announced in 2024, it's been delayed multiple times, marring the Apple Intelligence rollout and sparking several false advertising class-action lawsuits.
Apple has still not redesigned the voice assistant, though subsequent iOS updates have yielded some welcome incremental updates, such as the ability to text to Siri and answer device-specific questions, as well as more fluid conversations. In an October 2025 earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said Apple was "making good progress" and the product would launch "next year," 9to5Mac reports. The announcement today confirms the company is planning on releasing it in 2026.
Multiple reports from the last year indicated that Apple was searching for an AI partner, suggesting that its own Apple Foundation Models were not performing well enough in testing.
In July, Apple said it was open to acquiring companies to help it get ahead in the AI race. Perplexity was reportedly among those it was considering. Also last summer, Bloomberg said Apple held talks with OpenAI and Anthropic about using their AI models to power the updated version of Siri. Apple already worked with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence.
Today's deal is a major win for Google, which has been on a hot streak since releasing its Gemini 3 model, which many industry experts and members of the public found to perform better than OpenAI's latest models. OpenAI issued an internal "code red" in response and has since allocated more resources to ChatGPT leading up to the release of its GPT-5.2 model. (Our expert still prefers Gemini 3 over GPT-5.2.)
Apple has also been busy reshuffling its executive team overseeing the development of AI features. In May, CEO Tim Cook reassigned the new Siri to Vision Pro creator Mike Rockwell. Last month, it named former Gemini head Amar Subramanya as its vice president of AI. Perhaps his familiarity with Google's AI products sweetened the deal on the new partnership, and Apple now has the building blocks it needs to move forward.