Siri 2.0: Apple reportedly pays billions for Google's AI models
Apple is happy to sweep its partnership with Google under the rug. However, by relying on Gemini models for Apple's AI, this is significantly deepened.
(Image: Sebastian Trepesch / heise medien)
Apple Intelligence powered by Google Gemini. Apple is reportedly spending billions on the major deal with Google, which is intended to put Siri and Apple Intelligence on a firmer footing: The agreement is structured as a cloud computing contract and will bring Google several billion US dollars in the long term, as the Financial Times reports, citing an informed person. Even before that, it was heard that Apple is likely paying around 1 billion US dollars per year to the search giant for the AI models.
Gemini models as the new basis for Apple Intelligence
The next generation of Apple's foundation models will be based on “Google's Gemini models and cloud technology,” as the companies announced earlier this week. This is intended to enable new Apple Intelligence features and a personalized Siri promised as early as 2024. Apple has so far remained silent on the specific implementation. However, the company intends to retain the existing hybrid approach of a small local AI model and a larger model in Apple's “Private Cloud Compute.” It remains to be seen whether the chatbot Gemini will be integrated into the operating system as an extension of Apple Intelligence, similar to ChatGPT.
Apple reportedly held similar discussions about using AI models with Anthropic (Claude) and OpenAI (ChatGPT). According to previous reports, Anthropic charged too high a price, and test runs with GPT models had already been discontinued at Apple for a long time. However, OpenAI ultimately had no interest in providing a customized model for Apple, the Financial Times writes. Apple is already using OpenAI technology for Apple Intelligence and new features in its Creator Studio apps. However, since it has become clear that OpenAI is working with Apple's former chief designer Jony Ive on its hardware, relations are likely strained.
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Unlike the large established IT competitors and newcomers like OpenAI, Apple has largely saved itself dizzying investment sums in the infrastructure for training its own, huge AI models. This was long considered a failure but could ultimately turn out to be clever if the AI bubble bursts; observers are now speculating. A bigger problem for Apple: The company has lost a whole series of AI specialists to the obviously much better-paying competition in recent months.
As partners to the smartphone duopoly
Apart from minor disputes, competitors Apple and Google share a long partnership. Even the first iPhone relied on pre-installed Google services such as YouTube and Maps. A deal kept under wraps for a long time still ensures that Google is the default search engine in Apple's Safari browser. Google pays around 20 billion US dollars per year to Apple for this. The two companies dominate the market for smartphone operating systems and app stores.
(lbe)
