Google has confirmed that Apple’s long-awaited AI overhaul of Siri will be powered by its Gemini models, marking a major shift in the battle for control of next-generation digital assistants.

Speaking at the Cloud Next 2026 conference in Las Vegas, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian revealed the companies are deepening their partnership, with Google acting as Apple’s “preferred cloud provider” for AI development.

The collaboration will underpin Apple’s next-generation “Foundation Models” – the backbone of its AI platform.

“These models will help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalised Siri coming later this year,” said Kurian (pictured).

Apple had already flagged the partnership earlier this year, but Google’s public confirmation effectively locks in Gemini as the engine behind Siri’s next evolution.

The upgraded assistant is expected to debut at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, alongside iOS 27, before rolling out more broadly later in 2026.

For Apple, the move signals a pragmatic pivot. The company had initially been expected to rely more heavily on its own in-house AI, but delays, which reportedly linked to accuracy and reliability issues, have pushed it to lean on Google’s more mature large language models.

The revamped Siri is tipped to deliver a far more conversational, context-aware experience, with the ability to understand on-screen content, pull insights from apps and messages and carry out complex multi-step tasks – features Apple first previewed back in 2024.

However, key questions remain unresolved. It’s still unclear whether Gemini-powered features will run directly on Google’s cloud infrastructure or via Apple’s privacy-focused “Private Cloud Compute” environment. Apple is also reportedly exploring ways to run smaller distilled versions of Gemini on-device.

The partnership is notable given the companies’ long-standing rivalry in mobile ecosystems but reflects a broader industry trend: even the biggest tech players are increasingly collaborating to keep pace in the fast-moving AI race.