Revamped Siri, Google Gemini could boost Apple Intelligence in 2026: Report

Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that Apple Intelligence will soon integrate more third-party AI models beyond ChatGPT, Google Gemini likely a contender

Apple CEO Tim Cook has confirmed that the company plans to expand its Apple Intelligence suite by partnering with additional third-party AI providers. In an interview with CNBC, Cook said, “Our intention is to integrate with more people over time,” when asked about the future of Apple Intelligence on iPhones, iPads, and Macs. On Siri, he reiterated that Apple still intends to roll out an upgraded version by next year.

Third party AI integration in Apple Intelligence

According to CNBC, Cook indicated that Apple is preparing for more partnerships similar to its deal with OpenAI, which brought ChatGPT to Apple Intelligence. While he did not name specific companies, Google’s Gemini is likely the leading contender for future integration.

 

 

Earlier this year, 9to5Mac reported that Google CEO Sundar Pichai had mentioned during the company’s US antitrust trial that Google and Apple have been in discussions to make Gemini AI a built-in option for iPhones. Pichai also revealed that Cook told him “more third-party AI models would ship on Apple Intelligence later this year.”

Currently, Apple offers several ChatGPT-powered tools within its AI suite, such as the ability to generate images in Apple’s Image Playground app using ChatGPT’s visual styles. However, Apple’s iOS 26.1 beta build reportedly includes code references hinting that the company may soon add support for other third-party image-generation models. One likely candidate is Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash Image that powers the “Nano Banana” tool.

 

Apple has already incorporated Google’s visual search technology into its Visual Intelligence tool for iPhones. A deeper collaboration could allow Gemini to handle text-based tasks such as generating, summarising, or editing text, functions currently handled by ChatGPT. Users may eventually be able to direct specific requests to Gemini, much like Siri can already pass queries to ChatGPT.

 

Beyond Google, reports suggest Apple is exploring potential collaborations with other AI companies, including Anthropic and Perplexity, as part of its broader strategy to make Apple Intelligence a multi-model platform.

AI-powered Siri

During his CNBC interview, Cook also reaffirmed that Apple plans to debut a more capable Siri next year. The upgraded assistant is expected to include many of the AI-powered improvements announced at WWDC 2024, which were delayed after Apple’s internal testing found them below its quality standards, a point acknowledged earlier by Apple’s software chief Craig Federighi.

 

The new Siri update is expected to bring contextual understanding, the ability to interpret on-screen content, and perform multi-step actions within apps, all powered by Apple’s on-device and cloud-based private cloud compute AI systems.

Cook’s comments come after a recent Bloomberg report revealed that Apple’s revamped Siri has yet to meet the company’s performance goals, despite more than a year of extra development time. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that early testers of iOS 26.4, the version expected to introduce the new Siri, have raised concerns about its reliability.

 

Bloomberg also noted that Apple is testing a separate version of Siri that runs partially on Google’s Gemini through Apple’s Private Cloud Compute infrastructure. This aligns with Cook’s statement that Apple intends to integrate more third-party AI models into its ecosystem.