Apple might cooperate with Google to bring Gemini AI to iPhone

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is in talks with Google to integrate their Gemini AI engine into iOS 18 for the iPhone. In a story citing persons familiar with the matter, Gurman claims the two companies are in "active negotiations" to allow Apple license Google's generative large-language models in order to power some new features coming in iOS 18.

"The two parties haven't decided the terms or branding of an AI agreement or finalized how it would be implemented," according to the report's sources.

With the release of iOS 18 later this year, Apple is expected to introduce significant new AI capabilities to its iPhone operating system. According to Gurman, Apple is focusing on functions that run on the device and do not require an internet connection. To power future cloud-based generative AI features, such as the capacity to produce images and write essays based on single prompts, Apple is looking for a partner who already has the large-scale hardware infrastructure and computation capabilities in place.

According to Gurman's prior reports, Apple has been internally testing a "Apple GPT" competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT. The company is developing a "Ajax" framework for massive language models and investing millions of dollars each day on conversational AI research due to the high hardware requirements for training.

However, the technology is still not as advanced as tools developed by Google and other competitors, making a cooperation appear to be the better option, according to the most recent report. If the negotiations fail, Apple may seek out another generative AI provider, such as OpenAI, or work with numerous partners. However, if the talks lead to an agreement, it might offset any losses caused by the regulatory pressures on the two businesses' existing search collaboration.

Google has paid Apple billions of dollars over the years to keep its search engine as the default option in the Safari browser on Apple devices. However, the present agreement is being scrutinized by the US Department of Justice and the European Commission due to worries that it helps Google maintain its search monopoly.

According to The Information and analyst Jeff Pu, Apple is expected to release a generative AI feature for the iPhone and iPad in late 2024, coinciding with the release of iOS 18. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated in August that there is "no sign" of generative AI technology coming in 2024. He also claimed that Apple's development on generative AI is "significantly behind its competitors."