Google’s ‘Ultrapowerful’ AI to Fix Siri in $1B-a-Year Deal

Google’s “ultrapowerful” 1.2 trillion parameter Gemini AI is being brought in to fix Apple’s Siri, a deal that will cost Apple $1 billion annually. This “interim solution” places Google’s tech at the heart of its rival’s ecosystem.

This “behind-the-scenes” integration is part of Apple’s “Glenwood” project. Google’s AI was chosen after an extensive “bake-off” where it beat OpenAI and Anthropic, and it will now handle all “summariser” and “planner” functions for the new “Linwood” Siri.

The new Siri, launching in the spring, will be a hybrid. Apple’s 150-billion parameter models will manage simple requests, while Google’s AI will tackle the heavy lifting, a monumental upgrade for the assistant.

This is a reluctant admission of Apple’s AI lag. Top executives Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell are overseeing the project, pushing their teams to build a 1T+ replacement model.

Privacy is the deal’s cornerstone. The Gemini model will be hosted on Apple’s “walled-off” Private Cloud Compute servers, not Google’s. This ensures Google gets its $1B fee but no access to Apple’s user data.