Google confirms Gemini-powered Siri this year

Google and Apple have now publicly confirmed that Gemini will help power a more personalized Siri arriving later in 2026. (blog.google) (macrumors.com) The clearest statement came on January 12, 2026, when the companies said Apple’s next Apple Foundation Models would be based on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology. The same statement said those models would power future Apple Intelligence features, including Siri. (blog.google) Google repeated that message in public at Cloud Next 2026 in Las Vegas on April 22, when Google Cloud chief executive Thomas Kurian described Apple as Google Cloud’s preferred partner for that work. Reports from the keynote said Kurian again tied Gemini-based models to a more personalized Siri coming later this year. (9to5mac.com) (macrumors.com) Apple has been rebuilding Siri around large language models, the software that predicts and generates language the way chatbots do. In plain terms, Apple is replacing a command-based assistant with one that can keep context, understand messier requests, and act more like a conversational agent. (blog.google) (appleinsider.com) That matters because Apple spent 2024 and 2025 promising a more capable Siri, then slipped the timetable as its in-house models lagged. The new arrangement shows Apple using Google’s models and cloud stack to get the assistant overhaul shipped in 2026 instead of waiting for its own system to catch up. (macrumors.com) (appleinsider.com) The partnership reaches past Siri. Google and Apple said Gemini-based foundation models will support future Apple Intelligence features, which suggests the deal covers the core software layer that other Apple tools can call on, not just the voice assistant. (blog.google) Neither company has given a launch date, device list, or pricing for Gemini-backed Siri. The most specific timeline still is “later this year,” which leaves Apple room to preview the system at its June developer conference and ship it in a later software release. (blog.google) (ithinkdiff.com) The unusual part is not just the technology but the supplier. Apple is handing the language-model layer of one of its oldest products to Google, the company it competes with in phones, browsers, maps, search, and artificial intelligence. (blog.google) For iPhone users, the headline is simpler: the long-delayed Siri reboot is no longer a rumor, and Google says it is still scheduled for 2026. (blog.google) (bangkokpost.com)