Apple and Google announced a multi-year partnership where Gemini models will become the foundation for Apple Intelligence and the redesigned personalized Siri. The deal, reportedly worth up to $1 billion annually, marks a significant shift from Apple's traditional vertical integration approac.The updated Siri is expected to roll out with iOS 26.4 in March-April 2026. Apple will leverage Google's Gemini models and cloud infrastructure for their base AI models while continuing to develop proprietary AI technologies. According to the joint statement, "after careful evaluation, we determined that Google's technology provides the most powerful foundation for Apple Foundation Models".Elon Musk criticized the partnership as an "unreasonable concentration of power," noting that Google already controls Android and Chrome, and now extends influence into Apple's ecosystem. This comes as xAI is actively suing Apple and OpenAI over their exclusive partnership, which Musk claims prevents fair competition for Grok in the App Store. A court recently denied Apple and OpenAI's attempts to dismiss the case.The deal is non-exclusive, and Apple emphasized that all Apple Intelligence features will operate under their privacy standards . This represents one of the most significant tech partnerships between longtime rivals, fundamentally changing how AI will be delivered across Apple's ecosystem
intelec1|1 month ago