Apple and Google partner to upgrade Siri in major Alphabet victory

Alphabet has been competing with OpenAI for the Apple contract, the financial terms of which remain undisclosed.

Apple plans to integrate Google’s Gemini models into its updated Siri, set to launch later this year, as part of a long-term agreement that strengthens the collaboration between the two technology companies in the era of artificial intelligence and enhances Alphabet’s standing in the competition with OpenAI.

The agreement revealed on Monday signifies a significant show of trust in Google. Its technology already powers much of Samsung’s “Galaxy AI,” but the Siri partnership opens up a vast market through Apple’s user base of over two billion active devices.

“Following a thorough assessment, Apple concluded that Google’s AI technology offers the strongest base for Apple Foundation Models,” Google stated, noting that its models will also support additional upcoming Apple Intelligence features.

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Alphabet has been competing with OpenAI for the Apple contract, the financial terms of which remain undisclosed.

In late 2024, the company behind the iPhone introduced ChatGPT to its devices, enabling its Siri voice assistant to access the chatbot’s knowledge to handle complex queries.

Apple stated that there were no significant updates to the ChatGPT integration at that moment, while OpenAI did not reply to Reuters’ request for a statement.

“This appears to be an excessive concentration of power for Google, considering they also own Android and Chrome,” said Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, in a message on the social media platform X.

Musk established his own artificial intelligence company, xAI, which has been striving to challenge leading competitors in the field by developing core models and investing billions into extensive infrastructure.

The collaboration on Monday is expected to spark inquiries regarding OpenAI’s association with Apple. In reaction to Gemini 3, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman reportedly triggered a “code red” at the end of last year to speed up the development process.

“Apple’s choice to incorporate Google’s Gemini models into Siri moves OpenAI into a more auxiliary position, with ChatGPT still intended for intricate, user-initiated questions instead of being the primary intelligence system,” noted Parth Talsania, CEO of Equisights Research.

Google has been making significant efforts to challenge OpenAI’s initial advantage in the field by focusing more on advanced models, as well as image and video creation.

Apple has encountered multiple challenges in the AI domain due to its delayed entry, including postponed updates for Siri, high-level management shifts, and a generally unenthusiastic response to the launch of its generative AI features.

The most recent deal expands a long-standing collaboration that has established Google as the primary search engine on Apple devices—an advantageous agreement that boosts Google’s web traffic and contributes tens of billions of dollars in yearly income for Apple.

The announcement of the deal contributed to Alphabet’s market value surpassing $4 trillion on Monday. The stock increased by 65 percent over the past year due to rising investor confidence in its AI initiatives.

“Apple Intelligence will keep operating on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while upholding Apple’s top-tier privacy standards,” Google stated on Monday, as part of an effort to address privacy worries.

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