Apple Inc. is gearing up for a major transformation of its Siri voice assistant, powered by a technological leap that has the tech world buzzing. According to multiple reports from Bloomberg, Reuters, and PhoneArena, the Cupertino-based giant is finalizing a deal with Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., to license a custom-built version of Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence model. The price tag? A staggering $1 billion per year. This unprecedented partnership is set to reshape not just Siri, but the broader landscape of AI on consumer devices.
The new Siri, which is expected to roll out as part of the iOS 26.4 update in Spring 2026, will be powered by a 1.2 trillion parameter version of Gemini—Google’s most advanced large language model to date. For context, Apple’s current Apple Intelligence model operates with a comparatively modest 150 billion parameters. The leap in scale is not just about bigger numbers; it’s about enabling Siri to synthesize information, understand context, and execute complex, multi-step tasks in a way that’s never been possible before on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
Behind the scenes, Apple and Google have been quietly negotiating for months. The deal, which sources say is now in its final stages, will allow Apple to use a custom version of Gemini, built specifically for Siri and hosted on Apple’s own Private Cloud Compute servers. This architecture is designed to keep user data firmly within Apple’s ecosystem, a move the company hopes will assuage privacy concerns that have already started to bubble up among its famously loyal user base.
“We always take a privacy-first approach, your data is yours, even we don’t know what you access on your device,” Apple has long insisted, as noted by ghacks.net. But some users remain skeptical about a partnership with Google, a company whose business model is built on data-driven advertising. Even though the AI model will run on Apple’s servers, the optics of this marriage between two tech titans have led to spirited debate in online forums and among privacy advocates.
The technical rationale behind Apple’s move is clear. Siri, once a pioneer in digital assistants, has lagged behind rivals like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant in recent years, especially when it comes to handling complex, multi-step requests or integrating with third-party apps. As Reuters reported, Siri’s limitations have become more apparent as competitors have rapidly incorporated advanced AI features into their own voice assistants. Google added Gemini to its own assistant last year, while Amazon rolled out an AI-driven overhaul of Alexa earlier in 2025.
Apple’s AI initiative has not been without its bumps. According to Bloomberg, delays in rolling out new AI features for Siri led to a shake-up in the company’s executive ranks earlier this year. Mike Rockwell, the creator of the Vision Pro headset, was tapped to take charge of Siri, while CEO Tim Cook reportedly lost confidence in previous AI head John Giannandrea’s ability to deliver. Now, with Rockwell and Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software engineering, at the helm, the company is betting big on Gemini as a stopgap measure until its own next-generation models are ready.
Apple’s ambition, however, doesn’t stop at licensing Google’s technology. The company is simultaneously developing its own 1 trillion parameter AI model, which could be ready for consumer use as early as next year. Until then, Gemini will act as the powerhouse behind Siri’s new summarizer and planner features, synthesizing information and orchestrating complex tasks with a level of sophistication that Apple’s in-house models simply can’t match—at least for now.
“The new voice assistant powered by Google Gemini could be released as part of the iOS 26.4 update in Spring 2026, and is code-named Linwood,” reported ghacks.net, citing industry insider Mark Gurman. Internally, Apple refers to the broader third-party AI integration project as Glenwood, while hoping it won’t become, as one source quipped, “dead wood.”
Interestingly, Apple will not be trumpeting this partnership in its marketing materials. As PhoneArena and The Verge both noted, users shouldn’t expect to see “Siri powered by Gemini” splashed across iPhone ads. Instead, Google will remain a behind-the-scenes technology supplier, much as it is in Apple’s existing $20 billion per year deal to make Google Search the default engine in Safari. That arrangement, which was revealed in court documents a few years ago, sees Google paying Apple a hefty cut—reportedly 36%—of advertising revenue generated from searches on Apple devices.
Apple’s decision to turn to Google came after an exhaustive evaluation of other leading AI models, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. Ultimately, the 1.2 trillion parameter Gemini model emerged as the best fit for Apple’s needs, offering a level of complexity and contextual understanding that outclassed both Apple’s own models and those of its competitors. As Bloomberg reported, Apple has already allocated significant AI server hardware to host Gemini, ensuring the infrastructure is in place for a seamless launch next year.
Of course, not all of Siri’s capabilities will be handed over to Google. Apple plans to continue using its own models for certain features, maintaining a hybrid approach that leverages the strengths of both in-house and third-party AI. The Gemini integration, for now, is focused on powering Siri’s most advanced functions—summarizing information, planning, and handling tasks that require a deep understanding of user context and intent.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has been candid about the company’s ambitions. Speaking to CNBC last week, Cook confirmed that the new Siri is targeted for release in 2026 and hinted that more partnerships with AI providers could be on the horizon. This aligns with Apple’s broader strategy of integrating third-party AI services into its ecosystem while continuing to invest heavily in its own research and development.
For Apple users, the next iteration of Siri promises to be a quantum leap forward—one that could finally put the digital assistant on par with, or even ahead of, its rivals. But the partnership with Google also raises important questions about privacy, competition, and the future of AI on consumer devices. As the tech giants race to build smarter, more capable assistants, the line between collaboration and competition has never been blurrier—or more consequential.
As the dust settles on this landmark deal, all eyes will be on Apple’s next move: can it deliver on its promise of a smarter, more intuitive Siri, while maintaining the privacy and trust its customers have come to expect? The answer, it seems, will be revealed in Spring 2026, when Linwood finally makes its debut.
