Apple is weighing whether to let Google power the brain of Siri, a move that would mark a stunning break from its long-held strategy of building artificial intelligence (AI) in-house.
The iPhone maker is in early talks to license Google’s Gemini models to run on its servers, Bloomberg reports.
The deal would give Siri a new backbone after years of delays and false starts, while thrusting Apple into an uneasy alliance with its fiercest rival.
Shares of both companies jumped on the news. Google (GOOGL) climbed 2.9% to $205.46 in New York trading Friday, while Apple (AAPL) rose 1.4% to $227.95. Investors rewarded the rumor even though no agreement has been finalized.
The possible pivot follows a string of setbacks. Apple’s AI chief John Giannandrea was pushed aside from Siri development earlier this year after a major upgrade was delayed by engineering failures. Top engineers have since defected to rivals, including Meta, lured by multimillion-dollar offers.
At a staff meeting, one Siri executive reportedly called the delays “ugly and embarrassing”. The overhaul had been slated for release this spring but was postponed until 2026, leaving Apple behind competitors that already ship powerful voice-driven AI features.
Following the series of mishaps, Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, says that Wall Street has lost its confidence in Apple’s AI strategy, calling it a “disaster.”
“Nothing’s going to happen internally. It’s not happening internally, and there’s no one on the Street that believes any innovation is coming out of Apple when it comes to AI organically.”
The critique highlights why Apple is exploring outside help. Executives Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell are overseeing a dual track: one version of Siri powered by Apple’s own models, and another relying on third-party technology. Google is the latest candidate after earlier talks with Anthropic and OpenAI stalled.
For now, the talks remain exploratory, with no commercial terms under discussion. But the idea of Apple outsourcing its flagship assistant to an outside model signals how far it has fallen behind in the race for generative AI.
