Apple and Google have announced a multi-year partnership under which Apple’s next-generation artificial intelligence features, including its Siri assistant, will be powered by Google’s Gemini technology.
The announcement was made on Monday and signals a major strategic development for Apple as it prepares to roll out advanced AI capabilities across its devices.
The partnership represents a notable departure from Apple’s long-standing tradition of developing its core technologies internally rather than relying on external platforms.
In a joint statement, the companies said Apple chose Google’s AI offering after a “careful evaluation” concluded that it provided “the most capable foundation” for the iPhone maker’s artificial intelligence ambitions.
The agreement marks a rare collaboration between two technology giants that have historically been fierce rivals in the global smartphone market, where Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems dominate.
Despite their rivalry, both companies have sustained a profitable relationship for years, with Google paying Apple billions of dollars annually to remain the default search engine on iPhones and other Apple devices.
That long-running arrangement has attracted regulatory attention, with the United States Justice Department arguing in an antitrust lawsuit that the deal enables Google to maintain a monopoly in online search.
However, a judge ruled that the agreement could continue, allowing both companies to sustain their existing commercial relationship.
No financial details were disclosed regarding the newly announced artificial intelligence partnership.
Commenting on the development, Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities described the agreement as “a major validation moment for Google” and said it would serve as “a stepping stone” for Apple to align its AI strategy into 2026 and beyond.
Reports indicate that Apple had also explored potential partnerships with other artificial intelligence leaders, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity, before settling on Google.
Apple, the company co-founded by Steve Jobs, is widely seen as having struggled to keep pace in the race to deploy advanced AI features across its product range.
Last month, the company announced that the head of its artificial intelligence team would be stepping down, a move that further highlighted internal challenges in its AI division.
Apple had previously delayed the launch of an upgraded version of its Siri digital assistant last year and has now indicated that the enhanced version will be released later this year.
Meanwhile, competitors such as Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and several other technology firms have continued to roll out increasingly sophisticated AI models and features amid intense competition to lead the sector.
Despite its partnership with Google, Apple stressed that its proprietary AI system, Apple Intelligence, will continue to operate at the device-only level on iPhones and iPads.
The company said this approach would preserve what it described as “industry-leading privacy standards” for users.
