Apple’s long-delayed upgrade to Siri will finally arrive later this year, powered not by its own AI models but by Google’s Gemini technology, according to Thomas Kurian, head of Google Cloud, speaking at the Google Cloud Next 2026 conference in Las Vegas.
Kurian described the agreement as a “monumental partnership with one of the most iconic brands,” confirming that Google Cloud will serve as Apple’s preferred cloud provider to run customized versions of Gemini models that will underpin a more personalized Siri experience. Even as Apple has not officially confirmed a timeline, Kurian said the rollout would happen “later this year,” with the first public details expected at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
The shift marks a significant departure from Apple’s original plan to build Siri and Apple Intelligence entirely on its own foundation models, which internal assessments deemed uncompetitive. Instead, Apple is licensing adapted Gemini variants, a move that reportedly costs the company around $1 billion annually — though it recoups twenty times that amount through its existing search partnership with Google.
Despite the financial upside, Apple intends to maintain the Google involvement low-profile, avoiding any public branding of Gemini within Siri. The focus, according to company sources, remains purely on overcoming years of delays in delivering core features like context-aware responses and system-level device control through voice commands.
The upgraded Siri is expected to debut with iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27, all slated for release in the autumn. Developers and public beta testers may gain early access as early as summer, with a preview likely to appear at WWDC 2026.
Analysts note that the partnership underscores the increasing role of cloud infrastructure in enabling scalable AI applications, particularly for natural language processing that demands real-time handling of large data volumes. The move could pressure rivals like Amazon and Microsoft to accelerate their own voice assistant development to keep pace.
While neither company has disclosed technical specifics, the collaboration signals a rare alignment between two tech giants whose consumer ecosystems often compete directly. For Apple, the gamble is that outsourcing the AI foundation will finally deliver the Siri experience users have waited for since the initial promises of Apple Intelligence in 2024.
Why did Apple abandon its own AI models for Siri?
Apple concluded its internally developed Apple Foundation Models were not competitive enough to power the advanced Siri features it had promised, prompting the shift to licensed Gemini technology.
Will Apple acknowledge Google’s role in the new Siri?
No, Apple plans to avoid public branding of the Gemini integration, presenting the improved Siri as a result of its own software updates rather than highlighting the underlying technology.
