Google powers Siri with Gemini
- Google and Apple said in a January 12 joint statement that Gemini models and Google Cloud will underpin future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri in 2026. - Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian repeated that plan at Cloud Next on April 22, calling Google Apple’s “preferred cloud provider” for next-generation Apple Foundation Models built on Gemini. - Apple had already pushed its upgraded Siri into 2026 after missing the spring 2025 target, turning a rival into a core supplier for its delayed assistant (blog.google)
Apple and Google have moved from search partners to artificial-intelligence partners: Gemini will help power a more personalized Siri in 2026. (blog.google) The clearest confirmation came in a joint statement published January 12, 2026. Apple and Google said they had entered a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Gemini models and Google cloud technology. (blog.google) Google repeated that message on April 22 at Cloud Next 2026 in Las Vegas. Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian said Apple is using Google as its “preferred cloud provider” to build those next-generation models, which he said will power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri. (macrumors.com) In plain terms, Apple is keeping the Siri brand and the Apple Intelligence layer, but some of the heavy lifting behind the assistant will come from Google’s models and infrastructure. Apple’s own description of Apple Intelligence still says the system runs on device and on Private Cloud Compute, with privacy protections built in. (blog.google) (apple.com) That is a sharp change from Apple’s pitch in June 2024, when it presented Siri as a more personal assistant that could understand on-screen context and act across apps. By March 7, 2025, Apple said those Siri features would be delayed until 2026 instead of arriving in spring 2025. (cnbc.com) Apple kept reaffirming the 2026 timetable after reports of engineering problems. MacRumors, citing CNBC’s reporting from February 2026, said Apple told CNBC the smarter Siri was still on track to launch in 2026. (macrumors.com) The partnership also rewrites a long-running Apple storyline. Bloomberg reported in May 2025 that Apple’s AI struggles had already become a strategic problem, even though the company had hired former Google AI leader John Giannandrea back in 2018 to catch up. (bloomberg.com) What comes next is likely a software preview before a broad consumer rollout. MacRumors said Apple plans to introduce iOS 27 at Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, 2026, and that developers could get their first detailed look there. (macrumors.com) For Apple, the immediate task is no longer proving Siri can be rebuilt entirely in house. It is shipping the assistant it promised, on a 2026 clock, with Google now inside the stack. (blog.google) (cnbc.com)
