Apple has chosen Google's Gemini to power its next iteration of Siri, coming later this year, both companies said in a joint statement on Monday.

Apple and Google's Siri deal follows months of rumors saying that the iPhone maker had chosen Gemini to advance Siri over OpenAI's ChatGPT. A report in November said that Apple would pay Google $1 billion per year for Google's AI prowess. The release of Gemini 3 made a huge impact and reportedly put OpenAI in a "code red" position. 

"After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google's Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users," according to the statement on Monday. "Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple's industry-leading privacy standards."

Google referred to the joint statement when asked for comment. Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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Despite Apple being one of the most valuable companies in the world, it's behind in the AI race. Instead of developing its own foundational models, which reports suggested hadn't been going well, Apple instead worked with OpenAI to power Apple Intelligence. Even with the Siri refresh under Apple Intelligence, Apple's AI assistant initially fell short of expectations, although it has subsequently proven to be more useful.

Apple's deal with Google further solidifies the alliance between two American tech giants that had already been exchanging billions of dollars. During the Department of Justice's antitrust trial against Google, court documents revealed that Google paid Apple $20 billion in 2022 to ensure that Google Search remained the default search engine across Apple devices. Now, some of that money will be flowing back to Google, allowing Siri to undergo a much-needed upgrade. 

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)