Apple’s Glorified “AI Siri” May Just Be Google’s Gemini in the Background

Apple is preparing to launch its upgraded, AI-powered Siri with the release of iOS 26.4, expected in the spring, according to a new report. While the update brings long-awaited improvements to Apple’s voice assistant, it may come with an unexpected twist behind the scenes.

The report alleges that Apple has struck a quiet deal with Google to use its Gemini AI models to power the next-generation Siri. Rather than developing all the new intelligence in-house, Apple is reportedly paying Google to create a custom Gemini-based model, optimized to run on Apple’s private cloud infrastructure.

Despite using Gemini as its engine, Apple will not mention Google or Gemini branding publicly. Users will see the assistant marketed entirely under Apple’s own ecosystem, essentially presenting Google-powered AI as Apple innovation.

Interestingly, Apple reportedly tested both Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini models, with internal evaluations suggesting Claude performed better. However, Apple is said to have chosen Gemini for financial reasons, largely due to its broader partnership with Google. The companies already collaborate on search engine integration, with Google paying Apple billions to remain the default search provider across iOS devices. The new AI agreement may help offset some of those costs.