Apple has announced a multi-year partnership with Google that will see its next-generation artificial intelligence features, including the Siri voice assistant, powered by Google’s Gemini AI technology.
The collaboration, unveiled on Monday, signals a notable shift for Apple, a company long known for building its core technologies internally. According to a joint statement, Apple chose Google’s AI after a thorough assessment concluded it offered “the most capable foundation” to support the company’s AI ambitions.
The agreement represents an uncommon partnership between two longtime rivals whose operating systems—Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android—dominate the global smartphone market.
Despite their competition, the companies have maintained a profitable relationship for years, with Google paying Apple billions of dollars annually to remain the default search engine on Apple devices. That arrangement has drawn regulatory scrutiny, particularly from the U.S. Justice Department, which argues it strengthens Google’s dominance in search, though a judge has allowed the deal to continue.
Financial terms of the new AI partnership were not disclosed.
Commenting on the development, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives described the deal as a “major validation” for Google and a crucial step for Apple as it works to realign its AI strategy heading into 2026 and beyond.
Reports indicate Apple also explored potential partnerships with other AI players, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity. The tech giant has faced criticism for lagging behind competitors in rolling out AI features and recently announced the departure of the head of its AI division.
Apple had previously delayed the launch of an upgraded Siri assistant but now says it expects to release it later this year. Meanwhile, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and other competitors continue to advance rapidly in the race for AI leadership.
Despite the partnership, Apple stressed that its proprietary AI system, Apple Intelligence, will continue to operate on iPhones and iPads at the device level, maintaining what it described as industry-leading privacy protections.