Google wants Gemini AI deal with Apple by mid-2025
Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed in court testimony that the company hopes to strike a deal with Apple by mid-2025 to bring its Gemini AI technology to Apple Intelligence.
Apple Intelligence
During a federal antitrust trial on April 29, Pichai said Google is in discussions with Apple to integrate Gemini into Apple Intelligence, the AI system expected to power upcoming versions of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. The testimony was first reported by Reuters.
Gemini is Google's family of AI models, developed by Alphabet's DeepMind unit. It includes Gemini Nano, optimized for mobile devices, and Gemini Ultra for high-performance computing. The system is capable of summarizing content, generating code, and performing complex language tasks.
Compared to Apple's current on-device models, Gemini promises broader reasoning and more fluid interactions in both text and voice, though the extent of any integration remains unclear.
What Gemini AI could do for iPhone users
For iPhone users, Gemini could enable smarter everyday experiences. A Gemini-enhanced Siri might respond with more context, maintain more natural conversations, and offer suggestions based on user behavior.
That might include suggesting calendar changes based on incoming emails or summarizing documents on command.
However, Apple is unlikely to give Google deep system access. The company is known for tightly controlling privacy-sensitive features like Mail, Calendar, and on-device automation. While ChatGPT is available on the App Store, it operates in a sandbox and can't tap into core system services.
Gemini, if approved, would likely face similar restrictions. Any integration would need to be opt-in and privacy-focused, consistent with Apple's current approach to third-party AI.
Apple's current AI system, Apple Intelligence, combines internal models with access to OpenAI's ChatGPT for certain tasks. That includes fallback support in Siri and writing assistance tools. Pichai said he personally discussed Gemini's potential with Apple CEO Tim Cook in multiple meetings throughout 2024.
A deal with Google could accelerate Apple's AI roadmap, delivering immediate capabilities while it continues developing its own technology. For Google, embedding Gemini into iPhones would dramatically expand the reach of its AI tools.
Competitive and regulatory pressures
The potential partnership comes amid a broader industry push toward generative AI. Microsoft has embedded OpenAI's models across Windows and its Copilot platform. Samsung is adding AI features to its Galaxy lineup.
Apple risks falling behind
Regulators are also paying close attention. The U.S. Department of Justice has already scrutinized past Apple-Google agreements, including Google's role as the default search engine on iPhones.
A new deal involving Gemini could trigger further antitrust review.
Apple has built its brand around user privacy, so any agreement with Google is likely to face public scrutiny. Users may question how much data Gemini requires, whether it operates locally or in the cloud, and how Apple will maintain control over sensitive user data.
In its OpenAI partnership, Apple routes requests through its own servers, strips identifiers, and prevents logged data from being used to train models. ChatGPT is limited to answering questions and helping with writing, not controlling system features.
A Gemini partnership would likely follow similar rules.
The road ahead
It's not yet known which Gemini models Apple might adopt. Gemini Nano seems suited for on-device tasks, while Gemini Pro could offer more powerful cloud-based functions.
If finalized, the partnership could be announced during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, which begins the week of June 9, 2025. That's when Apple is expected to unveil iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and the next version of macOS.
Gemini-powered features may debut in late 2025, potentially alongside the iPhone 17. For Apple, it could be the fastest way to narrow the AI gap with rivals -- directly benefiting millions of iPhone users.
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Comments
…LOL, it’s already *way* behind in AI rollout
My guess is that you have watched YouTube video and guess what, Google knows that someone using a particular browser with your IP address block watched some video even if you didn't log into a Google account. Same with seeing a little Google Map widget on some store's webpage. And you've probably purchased something online from a merchant who uses an order fulfillment delivery service that utilizes Google Maps for address location. So even if you don't have a Google account, some merchant knows that DAalseth lives at 101 Main Street Apt 42, Curmudgeonville, USA and passed that information along to UPS.
Whether not any given feature helps out any single individual is irrelevant. What matters is how it addresses a significant portion of the user base.
Your usage case -- while important to you -- is not the sole one on this planet. We already know that Joe Consumer has started using ChatGPT and other AI chatbot assistants. It's becoming more mainstream every day whether you like it or not.
You hate AI. We get it. Yet having a temper tantrum on an anonymous Q&A forum won't make it go away. There will be more AI in twelve months than today. And there's no one pointing a gun at your head saying you need to use every single feature on all of your devices. For example, you are free to use Photo Image Cleanup and not use AI Writing Tools. Or you can use Genmoji and not Mail Summaries.
So get used to it or throw all your tech away and go back to chiseling cuneiform on stone tablets and navigating with paper roadmaps you got at the local AAA office.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Nothing wrong with that.. but you should be excited about AI, if you like technology... and right now Apple Intelligence is the like the Zune of AI
idk about the user, but I don't use Google products because of their business model and the damage they have done to the free and open internet. I understand the tools are popular. But funny enough, using Apple products does make me more immune to Google's snooping. Sure, a widget might get an IP, but it is an iCloud Private Relay IP.
And idk if you know this, but addresses are public. That's not really what people mean by privacy. People don't want every datapoint about themselves to be gathered into one centralized location and used for poorly targeted ads. It's not that hard to understand.
And no one has to throw their tech away. I get by just fine without Google. I also happily use Apple Intelligence tools, Apple Maps, etc. To each their own. Not sure why you reacted so vehemently to a person's personal choice.
I’m not being snarky I honestly want to know what it would do for me. So far I’ve seen writing tools that will revise my work to remove my voice and style. I’ve seen art tools that make things that are far worse than what I create already. I have not seen anything that makes me think, “Yeah I really want my phone to be able to do that.” The articles here and elsewhere have not sold me on it.
Honest question: Why do I want AI, from Apple or anyone?
The poorly named "AI" that has been overhyped by terrible companies is actually a decent technology set. It will be *everywhere* eventually, but not in a flashy marketing way. It's going to be more like revolutionizing the way cars burn fuel so they are more efficient. Data gathering, processing, and presentation all benefit from LLMs to an extent, as long as you limit the dataset. Get too big and hallucination rates increase by magnitudes.
So no, there's really no real consumer use cases and likely won't ever be. AI is inherently a boring autocomplete machine that shouldn't even be marketed. Just look at Apple. Word processing and summaries? Yep, that's the best use of the technology. Apple Health data parsing? Also great for users, just not hugely marketable.
Altman tried to make advanced Excel spreadsheet parsing look sexy by saying it'll overturn democracy and end the need to work. The hype cycle is nearing its end and AI will soon fade into a background technology where it should have been all along.
Google's Gemini reasoning models are very good and can only help to improve Apple's customer experience