Apple’s Siri Gets a Brain Transplant: Google’s Gemini AI Model Powers Major Revamp Launching This Year
The digital assistant wars just escalated. Apple is bypassing its own labs and handing the keys to its flagship voice AI—Siri—to an unlikely partner: Google's Gemini.
The Unlikely Alliance
Forget incremental updates. This isn't a tweak; it's a core transplant. The move signals a seismic shift in strategy, with Apple opting for Google's cutting-edge generative AI to power a completely overhauled Siri experience slated for later this year. It's a partnership that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.
What's at Stake
The pressure was mounting. Competitors raced ahead with conversational, context-aware assistants while Siri often stumbled. Apple's play? Go big or go home. By integrating Gemini, Siri aims to leapfrog from a simple command tool to a proactive, intuitive companion capable of complex reasoning and multi-step tasks.
The Bottom Line
This deal cuts both ways. Google gets its AI in billions of pockets. Apple gets a shortcut to AI relevance without a public, years-long R&D lag. For users? Promises of a assistant that finally understands you. For Wall Street? Another 'strategic partnership' to justify the valuation—because nothing says innovation like outsourcing your brain. The real test begins when it launches.
Apple, OpenAI, and Gemini all integrated to support Siri
Speculation of a potential deal has been circulating since November, with Bloomberg reporting at the time that Apple was considering paying $1 billion a year to use the Gemini model. According to the statement, Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple’s privacy standards.
The iPhone Maker has delayed delivering the impressive Siri AI voice upgrade it promised despite running ads for the product. “It’s going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features, and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year,” the company said in a statement at the time.
Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT debuted at the end of 2022, Apple has lagged behind in the AI trend driving Wall Street. Apple currently partners with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence, specifically for complicated queries that can tap into the AI model’s world knowledge.
It’s unclear what the Google partnership means for the ChatGPT integration in the future. However, the device giant said that they aren’t making any changes to the agreement.
Google has made steady progress on its AI agenda, introducing its upgraded Gemini 3 model late last year. In October, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company’s cloud segment signed more deals worth more than $1 billion through the third quarter of 2025 than the previous two years combined.
Meanwhile, Alphabet shares rose about 1% on Monday, following the news. Google briefly touched above a $4 trillion market value, joining several giants like Nvidia and Apple, who have already touched the $4 trillion threshold.
Alphabet’s entry into the elite club comes after the company ended 2025 as one of the top performers on Wall Street. Its shares jumped 65% in 2025, Alphabet’s sharpest rally since 2009, when the stock doubled coming out of the financial crisis.
Citi analysts named Google a top internet pick for its 2026 outlook in a recent note. Analysts said 70% of Google Cloud customers use its AI products, adding “Google has the chip, the infrastructure capacity, and the model amid growing demand.”
Google unveils new agentic commerce protocol for retailers
Google has revealed its plans to launch an agentic commerce protocol for retailers called the Universal Commerce Protocol, or UCP. The company wants UCP to become an industry standard that retailers use for their AI agents and systems across tasks like discovery, buying, and “post-purchase support.”
We're rolling out new updates to help people shop in the new era of agentic commerce:
-A new checkout feature powered by the Universal Commerce Protocol that will soon let you buy directly on AI Mode in Search and the @GeminiApp right as you’re researching on Google.
-Business… pic.twitter.com/RD2AFfmzz2
— Google (@Google) January 12, 2026
UCP will first serve as the backbone of a new Google checkout feature that will allow consumers to make purchases in AI Mode in the browser search and in the Gemini app. The UCP-powered checkout will initially use Google Pay as the credential provider. PayPal will also be integrated in the future.
“Instead of requiring unique connections for every individual agent, UCP enables all agents to interact easily,” Vidhya Srinivasan, vice president and general manager of Google Ads & Commerce, said in a blog post.
Retailers and e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, and Target helped co-develop the protocol. Walmart also co-developed the protocol; therefore, Gemini will automatically include products from Walmart and Sam’s Club when consumers are researching products.
Google also stated that it will now allow brands to offer a special discount to users while they are looking for a product recommendation when using the AI mode. The company is giving users new data attributes within the Merchant Center to have sellers feature their items better within AI search surfaces.
A report from McKinsey in October said that by 2030, the retail sector may be worth between $3 trillion and $5 trillion around the world, thanks to AI-powered tools and agent-based commerce.
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