We are about to get our first real look at the results of the recently announced AI partnership between Apple and Google. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is planning to announce a new version of Siri in the second half of February.
Using Google’s Gemini AI models, this Siri update will reportedly be the first to live up to the promises Apple made in June 2024. It will have the ability to complete tasks by accessing a user’s personal data and on-screen content.
That update comes ahead of an even bigger upgrade that Apple plans to announce in June at its Worldwide Developers Conference. Gurman says this future version of Siri is supposed to be more conversational, in the style of other chatbots like ChatGPT, and it could run directly on Google’s cloud infrastructure.
Earlier reports suggested that Apple has been struggling to get its AI strategy back on track. In fact, Gurman says Apple’s Mike Rockwell told foundation team members over the summer that one of Gurman’s own earlier reports was inaccurate. But with the Google partnership, as well as the recent departure of Apple’s AI chief John Giannandrea, it seems the company has indeed found a new direction.