Apple In Talks With Google To Bring Gemini AI To iPhones

Apple is in talks with Google to bring its Gemini generative artificial intelligence (AI) to the iPhone platform, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The potential deal, which is reportedly under active discussion, could be a major boost for the search and advertising giant, which has accelerated development of Gemini over the past year due to a concern that rival AI products such as those from OpenAI could erode its search market share.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said last month that the company is planning a major AI announcement this year that would “break new ground“.

The iPhone maker has been investing in its own large language model (LLM) called Ajax and a basic chatbot called Apple GPT.

Cloud AI

Apple’s own technologies, which would be able to run locally on devices rather than in the cloud, are still planned to be implemented in the upcoming iOS 18 to provide users with information or conduct tasks in the background on behalf of users, Bloomberg said.

Gemini would supplement these local technologies with cloud-based services for applications such as creating images or writing essays from text-based prompts.

Google’s shares jumped 7.4 percent in early trading on Monday on the news, while Apple’s shares rose 2.2 percent, before shares in both companies later levelled off.

Apple’s shares have declined 10 percent so far this year, in part over investor concerns that the company is falling behind in AI competition with rivals, something a deal with Google could alleviate.

“This strategic partnership is a missing piece in the Apple AI strategy and combines forces with Google for Gemini to power some of the AI features Apple is bringing to market,” said Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives on X.

‘Major win’

“This is a major win for Google to get onto the Apple ecosystem and have access to the golden installed base of Cupertino with clearly a major licence fee attached to this,” he added in a research note.

In January Google sealed a deal with Samsung to bring Gemini to the company’s Galaxy S24 smartphones.

The deal could invite fresh regulatory scrutiny for Apple and Google, whose existing deal making Google the default search engine on iPhones is the subject of a US Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit.

The EU is also forcing Apple to make it easier for users to change their default search provider.