Apple Overhauls AI Strategy With Google Partnership and Two New Siri Upgrades [Report]

Apple is restructuring its artificial intelligence strategy, turning to Google to power its next generation of features while preparing to roll out two major upgrades to Siri over the next year. A new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reveals that after internal setbacks and delays, software engineering chief Craig Federighi has effectively taken control of the company's AI direction over the past year, aiming to prevent Apple from falling further behind in the generative AI race.



The shift follows a turbulent period inside Cupertino. Reports last summer indicated that executives were considering sidelining Apple's internal AI models due to performance concerns, a claim that prompted an emergency all-hands meeting where leadership reportedly dismissed the idea in blunt terms. Despite that response, the company ultimately concluded that outside help was necessary. Apple explored partnerships with both Anthropic and OpenAI, but talks fell apart. Anthropic was asking for too much financially, while OpenAI presented strategic issues of its own, including talent poaching and a hardware effort involving former Apple design chief Jony Ive on competing hardware. That left Google's Gemini as the most viable option, particularly after a judge ruled that Apple's lucrative search deal with Google could remain intact.


The first results of this pivot are expected to be revealed in the second half of February, when Apple plans to announce and demonstrate a major Siri update. Scheduled to arrive with iOS 26.4 later this spring, the new version uses what Apple internally calls "Apple Foundation Models version 10." While it runs on Apple's Private Cloud Compute servers to maintain privacy standards, the report clarifies that the system relies on Google's Gemini models under the hood to deliver the context-aware capabilities Apple first previewed in June 2024. This update is expected to finally allow Siri to tap into personal data and on-screen content to complete more complex tasks.

Looking further ahead, Apple is preparing a more sweeping overhaul for iOS 27 and macOS 27, internally code-named "Campos." The update would turn Siri into a chatbot designed for ongoing, conversational exchanges similar to ChatGPT. The new experience will be powered by a more advanced system known internally as "Apple Foundation Models version 11," which is expected to be competitive with Gemini 3. To support the increased processing demands, Apple and Google are discussing running this version directly on Google's cloud infrastructure and tensor processing units, marking a notable shift from Apple's typical approach for cloud-based AI workloads.

The reorganization has already led to significant changes inside the company. The move away from purely internal solutions contributed to the sidelining of AI chief John Giannandrea, who was effectively pushed out in December and is now serving out a vesting period. Several ambitious projects tied to his tenure, including an AI-focused revamp of Safari and the "World Knowledge Answers" tool, have been paused or scaled back. Instead, Apple is concentrating its efforts on deeply integrating the new, Gemini-backed Siri across core apps such as Health, Music, and Podcasts, favoring a unified assistant experience over a collection of standalone AI features.

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