Siri will run on Google's Gemini as Apple pays $1B yearly

Apple will pay Google roughly $1 billion a year so a revamped Siri can run on a custom build of the Gemini model. In Cupertino, however, the plan is to keep that detail out of sight by rebranding the system internally and avoiding any public mention of a partnership with its chief rival — a move that feels like a forced response to the company’s late start in the AI race.

Bloomberg reports the model carries the internal codename AFM v10, short for Apple Foundation Model, version ten. The label is deliberately scrubbed of any reference to Google or Gemini to protect the brand’s image. The secrecy itself says a lot: Apple has not finished its own large language model and, for now, is leaning on a partner’s solution.

Gemini, which now underpins Siri, packs about 1.2 trillion parameters and vastly outmuscles Apple Intelligence’s current 150 billion. The gap is hard to miss: Google is tightening its grip on the AI market while Apple has been losing specialists, including those who have moved to competitors — a trend that only heightens the pressure.

Even so, Apple is choosing pragmatism. As it did with Qualcomm modems after protracted legal disputes, the company has opted to acknowledge the need to work with a competitor to deliver results. The upgraded Siri powered by Gemini is slated for spring next year, and Apple is reportedly already developing its own trillion-parameter model. For now, iPhone users will get a sharper assistant, likely unaware that the smarts behind it come from Google.