Apple Strikes $1 Billion Annual Deal with Google: 1.2T-Parameter Gemini to Power Siri's AI Brain

On November 5, 2025, Bloomberg reported that Apple Inc. is finalizing a deal to pay Google about $1 billion annually for access to an ultra-powerful 1.2 trillion-parameter artificial intelligence model—a custom version of Google’s Gemini—to power Siri’s long-promised overhaul. Set to launch in Spring 2026 alongside iOS 26.4, this Gemini-powered Siri will handle summarization, planning, and complex reasoning tasks far beyond current capabilities. The partnership marks a historic détente between two longtime rivals and represents Apple’s pragmatic acknowledgment: building trillion-parameter models takes years—and Google already has one. With Apple’s current cloud model running just 150 billion parameters, Gemini’s 1.2 trillion parameters deliver 8x more power, enabling Siri to finally compete with ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini Assistant. Yet Apple plans this as a temporary solution—internal teams are racing to build a 1 trillion-parameter in-house model that could replace Google’s technology as soon as 2026, preserving Apple’s independence while buying time to catch up.

The Deal: $1 Billion Per Year for Google’s AI Brain

The Financial Structure

Key Terms:

• Annual payment: ~$1 billion paid by Apple to Google
• Model: Custom 1.2 trillion-parameter Gemini variant, optimized for Siri’s needs
• Duration: Multi-year agreement (exact length undisclosed, likely 3-5 years)
• Scope: Powers Siri’s summarization, planning, and multi-step reasoning functions
• User visibility: Apple users will never know—Google operates as a behind-the-scenes supplier, with no Gemini branding visible in iOS

Putting $1 Billion in Context:

This isn’t Apple’s first billion-dollar payment to Google:

• Google Search default in Safari: Apple reportedly receives $18-20 billion annually from Google for making Google Search the default in Safari (2024 estimate)
• Now: Apple pays Google $1 billion annually for Gemini AI services

The role reversal is striking: Apple went from collecting $20B/year** from Google to **paying$1B/year to Google—a reflection of how AI has shifted the power dynamic in tech.

Why This Is Unprecedented

Apple Rarely Relies on Competitors’ Core Tech:

Historically, Apple has in-sourced critical technologies:

• 2010: Acquired Intrinsity, started building custom A-series iPhone chips (replacing Samsung)
• 2020: Launched M1, ending dependence on Intel processors for Macs
• 2023: Built Apple Neural Engine for on-device AI

But trillion-parameter models are different:

• Training costs: $100-500 million per model (compute, data, talent)
• Time to train: 6-18 months for frontier models
• Expertise required: Hundreds of AI researchers and engineers

Apple’s AI lag is real:

• Siri (2024): Widely mocked for poor performance vs. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini
• Apple Intelligence (launched June 2024): On-device AI was impressive, but cloud AI lagged competitors
• Apple’s largest cloud model (2024): 150 billion parameters vs. Google’s 1.2 trillion—an 8x gap

The math is simple: Building a competitive LLM from scratch would take Apple 2-3 years—unacceptable when Siri is losing users to ChatGPT and Google Assistant daily. Google’s Gemini offers a ready-made shortcut.

The Technical Specs: 1.2 Trillion Parameters vs. Apple’s 150 Billion

What Are Parameters?

Parameters are the “knobs” an AI model adjusts during training—think of them as the model’s memory and learned knowledge. More parameters generally mean:

• Deeper reasoning ability
• Better context understanding
• Stronger multi-step planning
• Broader world knowledge

Parameter Count Doesn’t Guarantee Quality (smaller, well-trained models can outperform larger, poorly-trained ones), but at trillion-parameter scale, the difference is undeniable.

The 8x Power Gap

Apple’s 150B model is comparable to:

• GPT-3.5 (175 billion parameters, 2022)
• Llama 2 70B (small by 2025 standards)

Google’s 1.2T Gemini is in the league of:

• GPT-5 (OpenAI)
• Gemini 2.5 Pro (Google’s flagship)
• Claude Opus 4 (Anthropic)

The result: Siri will leap from 2022-era capabilities to 2025-era frontier AI overnight.

What Gemini Will Handle in Siri

According to Bloomberg, Gemini will power:

1. Summarization:

• Long emails, articles, documents: “Summarize this 10-page contract”
• Meeting notes: “What were the action items from today’s meeting?”
• Message threads: “Recap my conversation with [contact]”

2. Planning:

• Multi-step tasks: “Plan a 5-day trip to Tokyo with budget under $2,000”
• Project management: “Create a timeline for launching our product”
• Scheduling: “Find a time for a 1-hour meeting with my team next week”

3. Reasoning and Problem-Solving:

• Complex queries: “Why is my iPhone battery draining faster than usual?”
• Comparisons: “Should I upgrade to iPhone 16 Pro or wait for iPhone 17?”
• Multi-constraint optimization: “Find vegetarian restaurants near me that are open now and have outdoor seating”

What Apple’s On-Device AI Will Still Handle:

• Simple commands: “Set a timer for 10 minutes”
• Device control: “Turn on Do Not Disturb”
• Privacy-sensitive tasks: Text prediction, photo search, health data analysis (never leaves device)

The Division of Labor:

• On-device Apple Intelligence (3B-7B parameters): Fast, private, local tasks
• Apple cloud model (150B parameters): Medium complexity, Apple-controlled infrastructure
• Google Gemini (1.2T parameters): High complexity, summarization, planning (routes to Google Cloud, anonymized)

Spring 2026 Launch: Siri’s Biggest Update Ever

The Timeline

Planned Release: Spring 2026 (likely April-May 2026)

• Platform: iOS 26.4 (mid-cycle update, not a major iOS 27 launch)
• Availability: iPhone 15 Pro and newer, iPad Pro (M2+), Mac (M3+)

Why Spring 2026?

1. Integration complexity: Connecting Siri to Gemini requires backend infrastructure, privacy controls, and extensive testing
2. Apple’s 2026 roadmap: Major Siri overhaul was already promised for “2026” at WWDC 2024—Spring fits the timeline
3. Competitive pressure: ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini already dominate AI assistants—Apple can’t wait until iOS 27 (Fall 2026)

Expected User Experience

Before (Current Siri, 2025):

User: “Summarize my emails from today” Siri: “Here are your emails from today.” (just lists them, no summary)

After (Gemini-Powered Siri, Spring 2026):

User: “Summarize my emails from today” Siri: “You have 12 emails. 3 are urgent: [client] needs approval on the proposal by EOD, [team member] requested meeting time changes, and [vendor] sent an invoice. The rest are newsletters and updates. Would you like me to draft responses?”

The difference: Siri goes from keyword matching to contextual understanding and proactive assistance.

The Privacy Paradox: Apple’s User Data on Google Servers

How Apple Will Anonymize Requests

Apple has built its brand on privacy—“What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.” Routing Siri queries to Google’s Gemini servers seems antithetical to this ethos.

Apple’s Likely Solution (Based on Apple Intelligence Architecture):

1. Private Cloud Compute (PCC):

   • Apple already uses Private Cloud Compute for Apple Intelligence queries that exceed on-device capacity
   • No persistent identifiers: Requests are anonymized, with no Apple ID or user tracking
   • Encrypted in transit: End-to-end encryption from device to cloud
   • Stateless processing: Servers don’t log or retain data after responding

2. Google Gemini Integration (Expected):

   • Siri sends anonymized, encrypted queries to Google Gemini via Apple’s PCC infrastructure
   • Apple acts as intermediary: Google never sees user identity, device ID, or Apple ID
   • No Google account required: Users don’t sign into Google—Apple handles authentication
   • Response returned to Apple, then to user: Google servers never learn who asked the question

The Trade-Off:

• Pro: Apple maintains privacy controls and oversight
• Con: Apple must trust Google not to log or analyze patterns (even anonymized)
• Risk: If Google were breached or subpoenaed, anonymized data could still reveal patterns

User Opt-Out:

Apple will likely offer “Siri with Gemini: On/Off” toggle in Settings:

• On (default): Advanced features enabled (summarization, planning)
• Off: Siri uses only Apple’s 150B model (limited capabilities, but fully on-device/Apple-cloud)

Apple’s Exit Strategy: 1 Trillion-Parameter In-House Model by 2026-2027

Building Apple’s AI Independence

Bloomberg reports that Apple is already working on a 1 trillion-parameter cloud-based model that could be ready as soon as 2026—potentially replacing Gemini within 12-24 months of the partnership starting.

Apple’s AI Infrastructure Buildout:

1. Hiring Spree:

   • Poached Google AI researchers (including former DeepMind, Google Brain talent)
   • Acquired startups: DarwinAI (edge AI), WaveOne (video compression AI)
   • Job postings: Thousands of AI/ML roles posted in 2024-2025

2. Data Center Expansion:

   • Apple is building $10+ billion in new U.S. data centers (Nevada, Arizona)
   • Reported NVIDIA GPU orders: Tens of thousands of H100/H200/GB200 GPUs
   • Apple Silicon for AI: Rumored M-series Ultra chips for server racks (Apple-designed AI accelerators)

3. Training Data:

   • Apple Books, News, App Store: Billions of curated text documents
   • Siri query logs: Years of anonymized user interactions (with consent)
   • Apple TV+, Music: Multimodal training data (video, audio, transcripts)

Timeline for In-House Model:

• 2026: Apple’s 1 trillion-parameter model ready for internal testing
• 2027: Public launch in iOS 28, gradually replacing Gemini
• 2028: Full independence from Google AI

Why Build In-House If Gemini Works?

1. Strategic control: Dependence on Google creates risk (pricing changes, service disruptions, competitive leverage)
2. Privacy: Full ownership ensures no third-party data exposure
3. Differentiation: Custom model can be optimized for Apple hardware, services, and user experience
4. Cost: Paying Google $1B/year indefinitely is expensive—building in-house becomes cheaper over 5-10 years

The Broader Context: Big Tech’s AI Alliances and Rivalries

The Tangled Web of AI Partnerships

Apple ↔ Google:

• Partnership: Google pays Apple $20B/year for Safari default search
• Partnership: Apple pays Google $1B/year for Gemini in Siri
• Rivalry: iPhone vs. Pixel, iOS vs. Android, Apple Intelligence vs. Gemini

Apple ↔ OpenAI:

• Partnership: ChatGPT integrated into iOS 18 (announced June 2024)
• Rivalry: Apple building in-house LLM to replace ChatGPT eventually

Microsoft ↔ OpenAI:

• Partnership: $13 billion investment, Azure hosts OpenAI, exclusive cloud provider
• Rivalry: Microsoft Copilot vs. ChatGPT for consumer market

Amazon ↔ Anthropic:

• Partnership: $8 billion investment, AWS primary cloud provider for Claude
• Rivalry: Amazon building own LLM (Titan), competes with Claude in enterprise

The Pattern:

Big Tech companies are simultaneously partners and competitors in AI—relying on each other’s technology while racing to build alternatives. Apple’s Gemini deal is par for the course: buy time with a partnership, build independence in parallel.

User Reactions: Excitement and Skepticism

What Users Are Saying

Excitement:

• “Finally, Siri will actually be useful!”
• “1.2 trillion parameters is insane—Siri is about to leapfrog everyone”
• “This is the Siri overhaul we’ve been waiting for since 2011”

Skepticism:

• “How is Apple’s privacy brand compatible with Google AI?”
• “Will this be another ‘Siri will get better next year’ promise?”
• “I don’t trust Google with my Siri queries, even if anonymized”

Privacy Concerns:

• “Apple already uses OpenAI (ChatGPT)—now Google too? So much for privacy”
• “Will Apple require opt-in, or is this forced on users?”

The Trust Deficit

Siri has promised major improvements for years, but delivered incremental updates. Users are cautiously optimistic but won’t believe it until they see it.

Apple’s challenge: Deliver on Spring 2026 promise without delays or compromises—or risk permanent reputational damage.

Conclusion: A Billion-Dollar Band-Aid While Apple Catches Up

Apple’s $1 billion annual deal with Google for a 1.2 trillion-parameter Gemini model is a pragmatic admission: Apple is years behind in AI, and building a competitive LLM from scratch takes too long. By licensing Gemini for Siri’s summarization, planning, and reasoning tasks, Apple buys critical time to:

1. Ship a competitive Siri in Spring 2026 (finally)
2. Finish building a 1 trillion-parameter in-house model (2026-2027)
3. Maintain privacy controls via Private Cloud Compute (anonymization, encryption)
4. Preserve optionality (can replace Gemini with Apple’s model once ready)

Key takeaways:

• 8x power increase: Gemini’s 1.2T parameters vs. Apple’s 150B current model
• Spring 2026 launch: Siri’s biggest update ever, via iOS 26.4
• Temporary solution: Apple plans to replace Gemini with in-house model by 2027-2028
• Privacy preserved (mostly): Anonymized, encrypted queries via Apple’s infrastructure

The irony: Apple, the company that built its brand on owning the full stack (hardware, software, services), now depends on its biggest rival (Google) for the AI brain powering Siri. It’s a humbling moment—but also a smart strategic move.

Better to license Gemini for 2-3 years than let Siri fall further behind ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini Assistant. By 2027, if all goes to plan, Apple will have its own trillion-parameter model—and the Google partnership will be a footnote in AI history.

Until then, Siri users finally get the intelligent assistant they’ve been promised for over a decade. And Google gets $1 billion per year—plus the satisfaction of knowing that even Apple, the world’s most valuable company, couldn’t build competitive AI fast enough to go it alone.