The New Siri is… Google (Explained)

Summary

Apple has officially announced that the long-awaited major Siri update will be powered by Google’s AI models, expected to launch in 2026. This partnership represents a significant admission that Apple has struggled to develop competitive AI capabilities on its own, despite being a $4 trillion company. The deal mirrors Apple’s existing relationship with Google for Safari’s default search engine, though in this case Apple is likely paying Google rather than the reverse.

The announcement raises interesting questions about Apple’s existing partnership with OpenAI, which currently handles complex Siri requests by kicking out to ChatGPT. If the new Google-powered Siri can handle these requests natively, the OpenAI integration may become redundant. MKBHD speculates that this could bring features like Circle to Search to iPhone, and emphasizes Apple’s likely focus on privacy preservation even when using Google’s foundation models.

The broader insight from this news is that controlling the user interface may matter more than owning the underlying AI models. Just as tools like Raycast let users swap between different AI models while maintaining a consistent experience, Apple is prioritizing keeping users in their ecosystem over building proprietary AI from scratch. This move is designed to prevent users from switching to Android phones specifically for better AI features.

Highlights

”Apple hasn’t finally figured out AI”

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“This headline is basically now Apple and Google putting out statements confirming the hilarious news that Apple hasn’t finally figured out AI. They will be partnering with a company who has figured out AI.” — Marques Brownlee, 0:40

”They’re losing the AI race”

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“This is a pretty big news story just because it is a $4 trillion tech company that everyone assumes is on the bleeding edge of all this stuff and we’re waiting for them to get it together and finally jump in the AI race and now this feels like the headline that we can all point to to say, ‘Okay, yeah, they’re losing the AI race.’” — Marques Brownlee, 1:31

”Circle to Search could come to iPhone”

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“Circle to search is one of the absolute most useful AI features to me of the entire last 5 plus years where you can circle whatever’s on your screen… If all of that is potentially coming to the iPhone, that would be a pretty nice outcome of this deal.” — Marques Brownlee, 5:36

”Who owns the models may not matter”

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“Maybe who owns the models is not as important as who controls the interface.” — Marques Brownlee, 6:11

”Keeping users on the iPhone”

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“Apple is going to do this deal because it keeps the user on the iPhone. And so if built-in AI tools and LLM was really one of the reasons you were actually going to leave the iPhone… this move is specifically to make sure that that is no longer one of the reasons that you would switch.” — Marques Brownlee, 7:23

Key Points

• Siri Update Powered by Google (0:02) - Apple confirms the big Siri update coming in 2026 will use Google’s technology as its foundation
• Apple’s Official Statement (0:54) - Apple states they’ve determined Google’s technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple foundation models
• WWDC 2026 Expected Announcement (1:20) - The formal announcement of the revamped Siri is expected at Apple’s WWDC event in June
• Apple Losing the AI Race (1:31) - This partnership signals that Apple is behind in AI development despite being a $4 trillion company
• Comparison to Google Search Deal (2:16) - Similar to how Google pays Apple to be Safari’s default search engine, though this deal likely has Apple paying Google
• Why Google Over OpenAI (3:09) - Apple chose Google despite already having a partnership with OpenAI for ChatGPT integration
• OpenAI Partnership Uncertainty (3:40) - If Google-powered Siri handles complex requests, the ChatGPT fallback may become unnecessary
• Gemini Quality Assessment (4:11) - Gemini on Android is already really good and comfortably in the top three AI models alongside GPT and Claude
• Privacy Focus (4:53) - Apple will maintain strong privacy focus; using Google foundation models doesn’t mean data is sent to Google since models can run on-device
• Circle to Search Possibility (5:19) - The iPhone could potentially get full Android-style Circle to Search, one of the most useful AI features in recent years
• Interface vs. Model Ownership (5:57) - Who owns the AI models may be less important than who controls the user interface
• Raycast Example (6:17) - Raycast demonstrates this principle with a slider letting users choose any AI model while the interface stays the same
• Preventing User Switching (7:23) - This deal is specifically to prevent iPhone users from switching to Android for better AI features

Mentions

Companies

• Apple (0:02) - Main subject; partnering with Google for Siri AI
• Google (0:13) - Providing foundation models for new Siri
• OpenAI (3:16) - Current ChatGPT integration partner, future uncertain
• Samsung (7:32) - Mentioned as Android alternative

Products & Technologies

• Siri (0:02) - Apple’s voice assistant getting Google-powered update
• Gemini (4:15) - Google’s AI, described as “comfortably top three”
• ChatGPT (3:23) - Currently handles complex Siri requests
• Claude (4:29) - Mentioned as top AI model alongside GPT
• Circle to Search (5:19) - Android feature that could come to iPhone
• Safari (2:23) - Apple browser with Google as default search
• Raycast (6:21) - Mac Spotlight replacement with AI model switching
• Spotlight (6:26) - Mac search feature described as “dog water”
• Apple Intelligence (5:21) - Apple’s AI features on iPhone
• Google Assistant (4:18) - Previous Google assistant, features now in Gemini
• Grok (7:01) - Mentioned as AI model option in Raycast

Events

• WWDC 2026 (1:20) - Expected announcement venue for new Siri

Surprising Quotes

“This headline is basically now Apple and Google putting out statements confirming the hilarious news that Apple hasn’t finally figured out AI. They will be partnering with a company who has figured out AI.” — 0:40

“This is a pretty big news story just because it is a $4 trillion tech company that everyone assumes is on the bleeding edge of all this stuff and we’re waiting for them to get it together and finally jump in the AI race and now this feels like the headline that we can all point to to say, ‘Okay, yeah, they’re losing the AI race.’” — 1:31

“Spotlight has also been dog water for years.” — 6:26

“Maybe who owns the models is not as important as who controls the interface.” — 6:11

“Apple is going to do this deal because it keeps the user on the iPhone. And so if built-in AI tools and LLM was really one of the reasons you were actually going to leave the iPhone… this move is specifically to make sure that that is no longer one of the reasons that you would switch.” — 7:23

Transcript

0:02 So, the headline is that the big Siri update we’ve all been waiting for is finally going to be coming in 2026, and it will be powered by Google. Now, we knew this was coming. This was a rumor for a while. We’ve talked about it in the past. Apple continued for the last couple of months to just spin their wheels and Siri continued to suck.

0:25 Uh, I made a video about nine months ago about the state of Apple’s AI crisis basically and not a whole lot has changed since then. You should go watch that video. It’s linked below. It’s basically a much more in-depth, detailed analysis of all of Apple’s AI stuff.

0:40 But this update, this headline is basically now Apple and Google putting out statements confirming the hilarious news that Apple hasn’t finally figured out AI. They will be partnering with a company who has figured out AI.

0:54 So, here’s the official quote from Apple. After careful evaluation, we’ve determined that Google’s technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple foundation models, and we’re excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for our users. Pretty classic vanilla statement from Apple, but this is still really interesting for a couple of reasons.

1:12 I have questions that don’t have answers yet that we probably won’t get the answers to until Apple’s WWDC event in June, which is likely when they’ll formally announce this new revamped Siri again. So, I’m definitely looking forward to that.

1:31 But also, just wow. This is this is a pretty big news story just because it is a $4 trillion tech company that everyone assumes is on the bleeding edge of all this stuff and we’re waiting for them to get it together and finally jump in the AI race and now this feels like the headline that we can all point to to say, “Okay, yeah, they’re they’re losing the AI race.”

1:50 And honestly, I don’t blame them. It’s hard to tell if that’s exactly what’s happened at this very moment, but that’s how it feels. But you know what? If you’re Apple and you’ve been spinning your wheels this entire time working on Siri, but Siri’s just been bad this whole time and it’s famously taken you longer than you thought to deliver the features from the ads you had to delete, then this move makes perfect sense, as hilarious as it is.

2:16 Like, this is not the first time Google and Apple have worked together. Famously, Google’s paid Apple billions of dollars over the years to be the default search engine in Safari. Obviously, Apple doesn’t make a search engine, but their users use search engines and need one. So, they made a partnership to bring them the best one available. There’s some arguments obviously and some antitrust stuff in the background, but basically to deliver the best one available to their users.

2:44 Now, in this case, it’s probably Apple paying Google. I mean, we don’t know the terms of the deal. There’s been some rumors floating out there, but it’s kind of along the same lines otherwise. Like, okay, Siri exists, but it’s really bad. And they want to give their users the best experience. They’ve worked on it really hard. They couldn’t get it up to a level to compete. So, a partnership was the right answer. And it was just a judgment call to use Google’s models as a foundation.

3:09 Now, this is news to a lot of people because of them choosing Google for these models instead of any of the other competitors, say ChatGPT or OpenAI’s models. To me, it’s most interesting because they recently made a big partnership with OpenAI. Siri, as you know, now will kick out to chat GPT for any complex request that is too much for Siri to handle, stuff that needs world knowledge or has a multi-step request or whatever it is.

3:35 But assuming this new Google Foundation beefs up Siri and will allow it to do all this stuff on its own, it won’t need to kick out to chat GPT anymore. So what happens to that OpenAI partnership? I don’t know.

3:46 Anyway, now the promise is officially official again. They will be coming out at some point during 2026 with the big Siri update powered by Google’s models. And it’ll be interesting to see them. I assume this is going to happen at WWDC 2026, which is I think now that’s 2 years after they originally announced the big Siri update.

4:08 But here’s what’s on my mind now. One, how good will this partnership make the new Siri? Actually, I tend to think pretty good. I think Gemini on Android phones is already really good. They’ve looped in now a lot of the old Google Assistant features. So Gemini as a product is really good. The models are really good. Google asserts it’s the best. You know, it’s kind of like this. It’s there’s always, you know, GPT and Claude, all that stuff. But I’d say it’s comfortably top three.

4:33 But then two, how much will Apple be building on top of these foundation models? The foundation models give Siri uh better, deeper understanding of what you’re asking and better smarts and all of that, but then there’s all the stuff that Apple would like to do on top of that.

4:53 But when they customize it and add features and capabilities of their own, there’s no doubt there will be a big privacy focus. There always is with Apple and when they added the chat GPT integration where it actually kicked out to chat GPT to get stuff back, they did a lot of work to preserve user privacy in that using the Google Foundation models does not inherently mean it’s going to be kicking stuff out to Google. It’s got the models on the device, but still it’ll be interesting to see how they customize, you know, the functionality on top of what Google stuff will do.

5:19 Like remember that weird kind of half circle to search that’s built into Apple intelligence on the iPhone where you take a screenshot and then highlight what you want and then it lets you just basically Google image search whatever you circled. What if the iPhone gets full-on real Android circle to search?

5:36 Now, circle to search is one of the absolute most useful AI features to me of the entire last 5 plus years where you can circle whatever’s on your screen. Search text or circle an image to get a search for that image or get more info on locations or a sign you took a picture of or whatever else. If all of that is potentially coming to the iPhone, that would be a pretty nice outcome of this deal.

5:57 But then my final thought is, you know, all these headlines are obviously hilarious with like, oh, Apple’s such a rich, powerful company and they can’t somehow get their AI stuff together, so they’re going to partner with another company to do it. Fine. But it’s also popped this thought into my head that maybe who owns the models is not as important as who controls the interface.

6:17 Like for example, I use a tool that I’ve talked about in the past actually on my Mac called Raycast. And it’s awesome. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically like a Spotlight search replacement for Mac because Spotlight has also been dog water for years. So, it replaces Spotlight search for me. Lets me find files and also do translations and conversions and window management and all this stuff.

6:39 And they recently added a feature which also lets you chat with an AI model if you need to answer a quick question for you. And inside of the Raycast settings, there’s actually a drop-down slider. This is the pro version, but there’s literally a slider that lets you pick any of these AI models to chat with anytime you need to use an LLM as a tool. Could be ChatGPT, any of these models. Could be Gemini, could be Grok if you’re into that. Could be anything.

7:04 At the end of the day though, it doesn’t really matter which model I’m choosing to use. I’m just picking the one that I think works best for me. But the interface that I use to interact with that is still Raycast. So, Raycast gets the user because they’re delivering the experiences and function that I need.

7:23 Apple is going to do this deal because it keeps the user on the iPhone. And so if built-in AI tools and LLM was really one of the reasons you were actually going to leave the iPhone, you’re going to switch to Android to a Pixel or Samsung phone or whatever it is, this move is specifically to make sure that that is no longer one of the reasons that you would switch.

7:43 The fact that they can get as many of those features and experiences as possible to match with what’s happening on Android phones is hopefully to Apple a win for them and then they get the PR boost of, oh, Siri’s good again. Hopefully.

7:56 I am curious though for y’all watching this, you people who are subscribed to a tech channel on YouTube and watching a new video about Gemini and Siri, how much do these LLMs actually matter to you when making a tech purchase for yourself, like your next phone? Is this something you actually will make a choice based on? Let me know. I’m curious about that in the comments. Thanks for watching.