Technology & Science
Apple Picks Google’s Gemini to Re-Engineer Siri in Multi-Year Pact
On 12 Jan 2026, Apple broke with its in-house AI strategy and announced a multi-year deal to run the next Siri and Apple Intelligence features on Google’s Gemini models, replacing the short-lived ChatGPT tie-in.
Focusing Facts
- Alphabet’s share price jumped past a $4 trillion market valuation within hours of the announcement.
- Apple confirmed the OpenAI partnership will end when the Gemini-powered Siri update ships later in 2026.
- Elon Musk called the agreement “an unreasonable concentration of power” on X and hinted at further legal action.
Context
Apple ceding core intelligence of its flagship assistant to a rival echoes IBM’s 1981 decision to license Microsoft DOS—an expedient move that later ceded strategic ground. Like the 2005–present Google-as-default-search deal now under U.S. antitrust scrutiny, this pact underscores how distribution, not devices, is the chokepoint: whoever owns the model that answers two billion iPhone queries controls an information utility rivaling the Bell System of the 20th century. It also signals a broader consolidation trend in generative AI, where trillion-dollar cloud budgets create high barriers to entry, prompting regulators—and competitors such as xAI and Microsoft—to cry foul. Whether 2126 historians view this as Apple sacrificing sovereignty or as a pragmatic bridge until custom models catch up will hinge on future antitrust rulings and on whether AI infrastructure ossifies into a few “public works” providers, much as electricity and railways did a century earlier.
Perspectives
Mainstream tech/business outlets
Mainstream tech/business outlets — They frame the Apple-Google Gemini tie-up as a landmark win that validates Google’s AI prowess while finally giving Apple the muscle it needs to catch up in the generative-AI race. By spotlighting stock-price gains and strategic upside, these reports tend to skim over antitrust and privacy downsides that could unsettle readers or advertisers invested in Big Tech’s success.
Elon Musk / xAI-aligned commentators
Elon Musk / xAI-aligned commentators — They argue the partnership hands Google an excessive concentration of power and squeezes rival AI players out of Apple’s ecosystem. Because Musk’s own xAI is suing Apple and OpenAI and struggling with regulatory backlash, his warnings double as self-interested lobbying that inflates monopoly fears to advance his competitive position.
Microsoft-centric media voices
Microsoft-centric media voices — They lament that the Gemini deal ‘crushes’ Microsoft Copilot’s mobile ambitions and cements Google’s dominance across Android and iPhone. The outlet’s Windows focus nudges it to dramatize Apple’s move as a strategic blunder for Microsoft, potentially overstating Copilot’s setback while overlooking the partnership’s consumer benefits.