Opinion: It's a smart move for Apple to use Google's Gemini to power Siri

In June of 2024, Apple officially announced its artificial intelligence efforts with Apple Intelligence. It promised several big features, but only shipped some surface-level enhancements, including basic image generation and summarization. Consumers might not have noticed the lack of specific features when they didn’t ship. But 18 months later, most iPhone users notice that Siri continues to feel more outdated every day, compared to ChatGPT and Gemini.

The lack of delivery on its promises with the launch of Apple Intelligence was catastrophic enough that its senior vice president of AI Strategy left the company. Now, in January 2026, Apple is confirming that it’s partnering with Google to provide the bulk of the AI work. This might seem devastating for Apple at first glance, but I actually think this is a great outcome—for now. Here’s why Gemini powering some of Apple’s AI features is a smart move for everyone involved.

Confirming Gemini is important to move forward

There are at least two reasons why Apple's announcement of its partnership with Google to use Gemini for AI should be a big sigh of relief. This means that we, as users, should see some real, significant AI improvements coming to iPhones and other Apple devices this year, as soon as June at the company’s developer conference. But beyond peripheral niceties, we should see Siri get meaningfully better. That means all the hardware and software tied to a better, more advanced Siri can finally ship.

The fact that Apple is partnering with Google for AI isn’t the monumental part. There had already been speculation that Apple was evaluating different companies to partner with for its AI efforts. This latest news simply confirms that the company is formally picking Google. It’s smart to get the news out there, well in advance of any new software. Come June, Apple can focus on what the features do, and spend less time on how it is enabling the features under the hood.

iPhone users are big winners, but so is Google

Apple stumbled out of the gate with Apple Intelligence. Luckily, for customers, the company didn’t ship anything that destroyed data or was a privacy concern. If it had shipped something truly bad, it would have been much harder to come back from. Instead, the fallout revolved around undelivered promises. Personally, I can deal with disappointment much better than I can with irreversible bugs.

In other words, it’s not too late for Apple to revamp its AI strategy. The last 18 months have been the time to shift plans and make changes, before it fully commits to shipping software. The great thing is that this deal doesn’t preclude Apple from building its own technology while it uses Google. This has happened before. Apple was eventually able to replace Google Maps with its own mapping service. And Apple Maps is arguably just as good or better in some regards.

It’s clear iPhone owners are the big winners if Apple can finally ship a new, more personalized Siri assistant. But the reason Google is doing this deal is that it comes out a winner too.

Apple just had its largest financial quarter in history, despite its lack of artificial intelligence. Google had a massive financial quarter because of its AI. Powering features of the most popular phone in the world is a significant boon for Google. Not only is it valuable on its own, but it also keeps Google’s competitors like OpenAI or Anthropic from getting the deal.

The financial terms of this deal have not been disclosed, but the rumor is that Apple is only paying around $1 billion a year for Google’s technology in this partnership. But the fact that there’s an announcement at all means that Google gets to brag about its AI prowess.

After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google's Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users.

From CNBC’s initial announcement article, “The news sent up shares of both tech giants.” The financial benefits are already showing up, apart from direct payments.

Apple may have fumbled its initial AI rollout, but as it sits in 2026, the company should be in a good position to deliver a better, more modern Siri assistant—among other features. That means users of Apple products will have a better software experience sooner rather than later. Of course, Google comes out a winner too. As of now, this is a smart deal for all involved.