According to Bloomberg, Apple and Google are currently in talks to possibly bring Google’s Gemini AI to the iPhone. This year looks to be the year of AI on smartphones, and Apple doesn’t want to be left behind. Unfortunately for Cupertino, it’s current Siri offering isn’t anywhere near what consumers expect from AI assistants in 2024. Therefore, it makes sense Apple is exploring a partnership to bring something like Gemini AI to the iPhone.
This new partnership would build on the existing relationship the two companies have, as Google is the default search engine provider on every iPhone. Both companies benefit from this arrangement, so it’s no surprise that they are looking to replicate this success again with generative AI.
Although it will be interesting to see if iPhone users, many of whom choose Apple over Google’s Android for privacy concerns, will be enthused about having a much more data hungry Google service on their phones. These concerns might be mitigated if Apple can use its silicon to do the data processing instead of having all that information make its way to Google data centers.
However, it’s important to note that Google isn’t the only AI company in the running to deliver generative AI to iPhones. Bloomberg says that OpenAI has also been in talks about providing its models for Apple’s devices. This partnership might be more palatable to Apple’s user base, and might see less pushback from government regulators who may not want to see two of the biggest tech companies on Earth joining forces on another venture.
Whichever company Apple decides to team up with, it will be interesting to see how the company integrates generative AI into its devices. Equally as interesting will be how Apple’s user base reacts to these design decisions.