Siri Overhaul: Apple to Pay Google $1B Annually for 1.2 Trillion Parameter AI

Apple is committing approximately $1 billion per year to license a custom-built, 1.2 trillion parameter AI model from Google in a desperate bid to fix Siri. This massive annual expenditure highlights the urgency within Apple to revitalize its lagging voice assistant and compete in the generative AI era. The deal, which is reportedly being finalized, will make Google a crucial, albeit hidden, technology supplier, providing the core intelligence for Siri’s next-generation “planner” and “summariser” functions.
The move marks a significant admission from Apple that its internal AI development is not yet capable of powering the ambitious features planned for next year. After testing models from OpenAI and Anthropic, Apple executives selected Google’s Gemini as the interim engine for its “Glenwood” project, the internal code name for the Siri fix. This project is being overseen by Apple’s software chief Craig Federighi and Vision Pro lead Mike Rockwell, signaling its high priority within the company.
The new Siri, code-named “Linwood” and planned for iOS 26.4 next spring, will leverage this 1.2 trillion parameter model to understand and execute complex, multi-step tasks far beyond its current capabilities. This model’s complexity, measured in parameters, dwarfs Apple’s current 150-billion parameter cloud AI, promising a revolutionary leap in understanding and contextual awareness. This raw power is seen as essential for rebuilding Siri’s underlying technology and delivering on long-promised improvements.
To protect user privacy, a cornerstone of its brand, Apple has dictated that Google’s technology will run on Apple’s own Private Cloud Compute servers. This infrastructure ensures that all user requests and personal data remain within Apple’s ecosystem, completely firewalled from Google. Apple has already allocated significant AI server hardware to power the resource-intensive model, demonstrating its commitment to this hybrid approach where some features use Apple’s models and the most complex ones rely on Gemini.
While the partnership is substantial, Apple does not plan to publicly promote Google’s involvement. This strategy mirrors other “behind-the-scenes” supplier relationships, distinguishing it from the public-facing Safari search deal. This is considered a temporary fix, as Apple’s management is still pushing its teams to develop a comparable 1 trillion parameter in-house model to eventually replace Gemini, though catching Google’s rapidly advancing technology will remain a significant challenge.