Apple is officially considering several paths to revitalize Siri or Siri Overhaul, its voice assistant introduced in 2011 but now deemed sluggish compared to its rivals.
As reported by Bloomberg, the Cupertino-based firm is in early talks with Google to incorporate Gemini, the generative AI model from the Alphabet subsidiary, into the next Siri, which is set to launch in 2026.
The aim would be to create a completely reconfigured Siri, that is more “intelligent” and “conversational.”
This initiative shows that Apple wants to catch up in generative AI, which is currently led by Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. So far, Apple has been using only its own models — the Apple Foundation Models — integrated into certain AI features of its products (like text summaries, emoji generation, and other writing tasks).
Yet, under pressure from user requests and technical limitations, the company appears to be making a significant shift in strategy by seriously considering letting external solutions into the mix. The markets took this news positively, with both Apple and Google stocks gaining a few points on the stock screener.
Talks with Google are underway after collaboration attempts with Anthropic (Claude) and exploratory exchanges with OpenAI (ChatGPT) failed. The choice of the multimodal (text, image, sound, video) Gemini shows a desire to bet on a versatile AI that could directly compete with rival assistants like Google Assistant or Samsung’s Galaxy AI.
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Apple decided to get back in the game
For Apple, the prospect of a Siri Overhaul powered by Gemini would represent a qualitative leap that could boost the virtual assistant and enable Apple to catch up in this segment.
This is accompanied by deep internal transformations. The previously underdeveloped Siri, under the leadership of John Giannandrea, now has development work led by Craig Federighi (iOS and macOS), and Mike Rockwell (Vision Pro). This restructuring illustrates the problems Apple is having when it comes to matching up its product vision with the fast-moving world of generative AI.
Meanwhile, the company has been forced to speed things up when finding a solid partnership, primarily due to the breakdown in talks with Anthropic and the slow progress of the internal projects.
A glimmer of hope for Siri
This announcement had an immediate effect on the financial markets. The stocks of Alphabet and Apple rose by 3.5% and 1.5% respectively.
This potential collaboration represents a rare “coopetition” between two historical rivals. Beyond stock market fluctuations, we are left to wonder: Will Apple plunge into this relationship and entrust part of its AI future to Google? Or perhaps it will simply rely on this solution until its own models are as good as the competitor’s?
No matter what, the upcoming decision regarding Siri will settle its future and determine Apple’s ability to stay in the running during the artificial intelligence revolution.
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