Apple's AI cloud is only 10% used and why Google is the reason this may remain unchanged

Apple has spent years building its own cloud infrastructure for Apple Intelligence but if a report is to be believed, most of it is sitting idle. According to a new report by The Information, only about 10% of Apple's Private Cloud Compute capacity is currently in use, with servers still waiting in warehouses to be installed.

This comes as a major Siri overhaul is on the horizon but Apple may increasingly turn to Google to fill the gap rather than its own hardware, the report said.

Apple’s reliance on third-party servers

Apple’s dependence on third-party cloud infrastructure is nothing new. In 2021, Apple was reportedly Google's largest corporate cloud customer, having long preferred to lease data centre space rather than build out its own server network, as per Apple Insider, which also said that the approach remained same even as Apple Intelligence has demanded more computing power.

According to the report, when Apple’s updated voice assistant launches, the company expects a sharp surge in Apple Intelligence usage. Rather than racing to install its own underused servers, Apple is reportedly considering leasing more capacity from Google to meet that demand.

Apple-Google AI partnership goes beyond hardware

Apple is not only using Google cloud but it has already confirmed that Google Gemini will power parts of the new Siri. The deal raised eyebrows given Apple's famously strict stance on user privacy.

The report, however, says that Apple has control over its users’ data even if it on Google servers. Apple has already pushed back on any suggestion that leaning on Google compromises user data.“We're not changing our privacy rules. We still have the same architecture that we announced before, which is on device plus Private Cloud Compute,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said last month. Apple's Private Cloud Compute system was first announced in 2024 and it runs on Apple Silicon-based servers that do not store user data and use end-to-end encryption.

Apple “created Private Cloud Compute (PCC), a groundbreaking cloud intelligence system designed specifically for private AI processing.

”Apple argues that servers housed in a Google data centre are still Apple-controlled, which means that the physical location may have changed; the oversight has not. This means that these servers would not run on Apple Silicon, but Apple's privacy protections would remain intact.Not everyone is convinced the partnership will be seamless. Igor Naverniouk, a former Apple engineer who worked on the new Siri, highlighted a fundamental cultural clash between the two tech giants.