Google’s 1.2 trillion parameter Gemini AI has been tapped by Apple to serve as the “summariser” and “planner” for its new Siri assistant. This “interim solution” is costing Apple $1 billion annually and is a major win for Google.
The deal is part of Apple’s “Glenwood” project to fix Siri. The new “Linwood” Siri, due in the spring, will be a hybrid, using Google’s “ultrapowerful” AI for complex, multi-step tasks that are beyond Apple’s 150-billion parameter models.
Google’s AI was chosen after an extensive “bake-off” where it outperformed OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s top models. The deal is a significant win for Google’s “AI supplier” ambitions.
This is a reluctant admission of Apple’s AI lag. Top executives Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell are overseeing the integration, while pushing their teams to build a 1T+ replacement.
Privacy is non-negotiable. The Gemini model will be hosted on Apple’s “walled-off” Private Cloud Compute servers, ensuring Google gets its $1B fee but no access to Apple user data.
