White Label Gemini on Private Cloud Compute
The smarter, more capable version of Siri that Apple is developing will be powered by Google Gemini, reports Bloomberg. Apple will pay Google approximately $1 billion per year for a 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model that was developed by Google.
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Apple will use Gemini for functions related to summarizing and multi-step task planning and execution, but Apple models will also be used for some Siri features. The AI model that Google is developing for Apple will run on Apple's Private Cloud Compute servers, so Google will not have access to Apple data.
Nothing I’ve seen from kicking the tires with Anthropic’s own app and Google’s Gemini app (and my daily use of ChatGPT) suggests that Anthropic is significantly better than Gemini or ChatGPT (or vice versa). They’re all clearly near each other technically. Siri, and today’s Apple Intelligence, is at least two generations behind. Maybe worse.
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So I don’t think there’s any reason to think that Apple partnering with Google for a version of Gemini that runs on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute infrastructure is “settling”. It’s more like choosing between a Mercedes and a BMW, and maybe you like the Mercedes a little more after test-driving both, but you’re getting a way, way better deal from the BMW dealer so that’s the one you buy.
Because if Gurman’s sources are right and this deal is for around $1 billion per year, that’s an amazing deal for Apple. Remember first that Google pays Apple over $20 billion per year for web search traffic acquisition fees from Safari users. So one way to look at it is that Apple is getting access to its own private instance of Gemini in exchange for a 5 percent reduction in the fees it collects from Google for Safari search queries. Another way of looking at it is that Google has reportedly invested over $100 billion developing its AI capabilities. Apple getting access to the fruits of that labor for $1 billion per year seems like such a steal that it makes me wonder why Google agreed to it.
This seems like a win-win as far as it goes, but I maintain that the main problem with Siri is the unreliability and slowness of its infrastructure, and it’s not clear that this would help with that.
While this news isn’t exactly new – it has been known for a while that Apple was doing a sort of “bake off” internally to potentially find a third-party partner to help fix their AI efforts – and we even knew that Google was likely in pole position, it’s still reassuring to read a report with actual numbers and potential timetables. That suggests a deal that is indeed at the finish line, if not already over it. And it makes a new Siri – an actually working Siri – possible in the Spring of 2026.
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Apple may not have wanted to pay Anthropic $1.5B a year to use Claude but $1B a year to a partner that is paying you $20B+ for that Search deal? That can be just an in-kind deal! “Google, you know that $25B you owe us this year? Make it $24B, but we’ll take a custom build of Gemini. Deal?”
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And while the “walled off” aspect is clearly a must for Apple here, you could also imagine that the company may be willing to share some data – fully anonymized, of course – back to help constantly improve the model. And that may speak to why Google would want to do this deal (well, that and the money).
I see speculation that both sides would want to keep the deal secret, but would that be permissible under the current privacy policy?
Apple service providers are obligated to handle personal data consistent with this Privacy Policy and according to our instructions. They cannot use the personal data we share for their own purposes and must delete or return the personal data once they’ve fulfilled our request.
They have this elaborate Private Cloud Compute system, but then they’re going to purposely break out of that box and it’s OK because everyone assumes that they properly anonymize the data?
Previously:
- Google Search Remedies
- Swift Assist, Part Deux
- Why Apple Still Hasn’t Cracked AI
- How Apple Fumbled Siri’s AI Makeover
- Apple Shifts Siri From Giannandrea to Rockwell
- Apple Delays “More Personalized Siri” Apple Intelligence Features
- Apple Intelligence Announced
