Pichai: Google wants to put its AI on Apple iPhones this year
Google hopes to reach a deal to get its Gemini AI onto iPhones this year, according to a Reuters report of CEO Sundar Pichai’s testimony during Google’s antitrust case today, where the court is trying to decide how best to fix Google’s search monopoly. The Information reported that Pichai had at least a “couple” of discussions about doing so last year. Apple SVP Craig Federighi hinted at last year’s developer conference that Gemini might eventually be added to the iPhone as an AI option.
Apple is considered far behind its peers in the AI space and has had to delay a number of features, including an updated Siri on its latest AI phones. To help make up for lost time (and to bypass regulation in China), the company has partnered with a number of AI companies, including OpenAI, Alibaba, and Baidu.
How it currently works is if you ask Siri a question and Apple’s own AI models can’t answer, it offers users the ability to ask ChatGPT instead. It’s a clunky, bifurcated system that leaves much to be desired. We’ll see if a partnership with Google can help that.
Of course, one way the Department of Justice hopes to fix Google’s monopoly is by prohibiting it from paying companies like Apple to be the default search engine on its phones, a deal that snagged Apple $20 billion in 2022. If this is a situation where Google pays to be the default AI, would it be any different?
Apple is considered far behind its peers in the AI space and has had to delay a number of features, including an updated Siri on its latest AI phones. To help make up for lost time (and to bypass regulation in China), the company has partnered with a number of AI companies, including OpenAI, Alibaba, and Baidu.
How it currently works is if you ask Siri a question and Apple’s own AI models can’t answer, it offers users the ability to ask ChatGPT instead. It’s a clunky, bifurcated system that leaves much to be desired. We’ll see if a partnership with Google can help that.
Of course, one way the Department of Justice hopes to fix Google’s monopoly is by prohibiting it from paying companies like Apple to be the default search engine on its phones, a deal that snagged Apple $20 billion in 2022. If this is a situation where Google pays to be the default AI, would it be any different?
