Google to power Siri on Apple iPhones: How Google won multi-billion dollar deal for which it was reportedly not the first choice

Apple and Google have reached a formal agreement to integrate Google’s Gemini model into Apple’s voice assistant overhaul, and the deal builds on their existing search partnership worth approximately $20 billion annually to Apple, according to a Bloomberg report published this week.The partnership will support Apple’s “World Knowledge Answers” project, an

AI-powered search tool

that will enable Siri to compete with services like ChatGPT and Perplexity AI. The feature is scheduled to launch in spring 2026 with iOS 26.4.Google will provide a custom Gemini model to handle Siri’s summarization capabilities, running on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers. The updated Siri will feature an interface combining text, photos, videos, and local information with AI-powered summarization. Apple plans to use its own technology for searching user data while potentially deploying Google’s model for web searches and response planning.

Google wasn’t Apple’s first choice for AI, but it eventually won over on price

Bloomberg sources said Apple’s internal evaluations initially showed Anthropic’s Claude AI outperforming Google’s technology in quality tests. However, Google secured the partnership by offering better financial terms after Anthropic requested more than $1.5 billion per year.The development follows this week’s federal court ruling that allows Apple to continue its Google search deal while ending exclusive distribution agreements. Apple’s and Google’s search deal was one of the DoJ’s contentions, and during the hearing, Apple services chief Eddy Cue tried to downplay the companies’ Google partnership, testifying that Google search queries from Apple devices fell for the first time in 20 years as users turn to AI-based alternatives.Cue’s comments had raised questions about whether Apple might distance itself from Google, but the new AI partnership suggests the opposite. Instead of severing ties, both companies are only deepening their collaboration, with Gemini now powering Siri while continuing the good old revenue-sharing deal for Google Search.