Apple's AI play may hinge on Google

Apple has yet to deliver a smarter Siri, but a potential partnership with Google could yield an AI assistant beyond what Apple could produce on its own.The big picture: Using Google's Gemini under the hood could create a stronger pocket assistant, but much will come down to how well Apple can stitch together its voice assistant with Google's technology.Driving the news: Bloomberg reports Apple is nearing a $1 billion-a-year agreement to run a custom version of Gemini on Apple servers.Between the lines: Apple laid out a compelling vision for Apple Intelligence and an improved Siri last year, but failed to deliver. Siri still relies on Apple's in-house tech, but can hand off some questions to ChatGPT with user permission.Apple has promised since 2024 that Siri would be able to take on a broader range of queries — using users' private information, but only for the purpose of answering the question and in ways that even Apple itself wouldn't be able to access.Running a custom version of Gemini on its own servers opens a big question of how much data, if any, Google will be able to access. Yes, but: Just because Gemini gets built into Siri doesn't mean that's the assistant all iPhone users will choose, even if it's the default choice. If Gemini falls short in its capabilities, interface or privacy, people may choose — as many do today — to use ChatGPT or another assistant.Expect all the AI players to keep pushing their apps, including OpenAI, Meta and even Google, which would still prefer people to use the version of Gemini that runs on its server, giving it far more data.Reality check: Apple and Google aren't commenting. Tim Cook suggested on a previous earnings call that the company needed its own frontier models, but said he considered that information proprietary.Apple says the new Siri will arrive next year, but it has already faced multiple delays."We're making good progress on it, and as we've shared, we expect to release it next year," Tim Cook said last week during a call to discuss its quarterly earnings.Our thought bubble: Partnering with Google signals Apple may see less value in competing head-on in foundation model development.The bottom line: Siri, pop us some popcorn, this could get interesting.

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