Apple will pay Google ≈$1 billion a year for Gemini AI
By ForGeeks
Bloomberg reported new details about a partnership between Apple and Google that will see Siri voice assistant Siri get powerful Gemini artificial intelligence support as early as next year.
Journalist Mark Gurman previously wrote that Google had beaten Anthropic in a competition to become the AI technology provider for Siri. The deciding factor, according to sources, was not the model’s performance, but its cost.
It’s now been revealed that Apple will pay Google roughly $1 billion a year for access to Gemini’s technology. An updated version of Siri, according to Bloomberg, is expected to be available in the spring of 2026.
The publication also revealed technical details of the future partnership. Apple plans to use Gemini’s purpose-built 1.2 trillion-parameter Gemini model. By comparison, Apple’s cloud model has 150 billion parameters, while its on-premises model has just 3 billion. Thus, Google’s solution is significantly more powerful than Apple’s current development.
The project to integrate third-party AI into Siri, internally dubbed Glenwood, is overseen by Mike Rockwell, who recently took charge of the redesign of the voice assistant.
The project, which is internally named Glenwood, is overseen by Mike Rockwell, who recently took charge of the redesign of the voice assistant.
under the terms of the agreement, the Gemini model will be responsible for the scheduling and summarization features – which are what allow Siri to analyze information and execute complex commands. Some of the features will still work on Apple’s own models.
Importantly, Google won’t have access to user data. All computing will take place on Apple’s servers as part of its Private Cloud Compute system to ensure privacy.
Gurman clarifies that the current agreement differs from previous talks between the companies. Apple had previously considered using Gemini to provide Siri with world knowledge, similar to its current partnership with OpenAI, but the project didn’t go forward at the time.
Gurman says that the current agreement is different from previous talks between the companies.
Despite the agreement with Google, Apple isn’t about to abandon its own development. The company continues to work on its own 1 trillion-parameter cloud-based AI solution, which could be ready for consumer use as early as next year.
