Apple will pay almost $1 billion annually for a custom Gemini model to power Siri, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (a subscription is required to read the article).
Gemini is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot and virtual assistant developed by Google. It was launched in March 2023 in response to the rise of OpenAI‘s ChatGPT.
In the past it’s been reported that Apple was also considering OpenAI and Anthropic as solutions to its artificial intelligence problems. Apparently, those discussions didn’t pan out.
From the Bloomberg article: Following an extensive evaluation period, the two companies are now finalizing an agreement that would see Apple pay roughly $1 billion annually for access to Google’s technology, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. The new Siri is on track for next spring, Bloomberg has reported.”
Apple Inc. is planning to use a 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model developed by Alphabet Inc.’s Google to help power its long-promised overhaul of the Siri voice assistant, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The iPhone maker is banking on Google’s help to rebuild Siri’s underlying technology, setting the stage for a new slate of features next year. The Google model’s 1.2 trillion parameters — a measure of the AI software’s complexity — would dwarf the level of Apple’s current models.
Under the arrangement, Google’s Gemini model will handle Siri’s summarizer and planner functions — the components that help the voice assistant synthesize information and decide how to execute complex tasks. Some Siri features will continue to use Apple’s in-house models.”
Gurman says Apple will run the Google-based models on its own servers. Purportedly, the tech giant doesn’t consider this a permanent solution.
“Apple still doesn’t want to use Gemini as a long-term solution. Despite the company bleeding AI talent — including the head of its models team — management intends to keep developing new AI technology and hopes to eventually replace Gemini with an in-house solution, the people said,” Gurman writes. “To that end, the company’s models team is working on a 1 trillion parameter cloud-based model that it hopes to have ready for consumer applications as early as next year.”
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