Insider: Google's Gemini AI Under Discussion for Apple's iPhone
Apple is apparently planning to team up with Google for a mega-deal to use its Gemini AI model for features on the iPhone, Bloomberg reported. This would put Google in a leading position, as the company already has a deal with Apple to be the preferred search engine provider on iPhones for the Safari browser.
According to people familiar with the matter, Apple plans to license Google's AI technology to introduce AI-based features with iOS updates later this year. In addition, the company has been in talks with OpenAI about the potential use of GPT models, according to Bloomberg.
With growing pressure to keep pace with competitors in the AI space such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Anthropic and Google, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company will introduce generative AI features "later this year."
The company's job postings last year indicate that Apple is working on various internal and external tools powered by generative AI. However, the consideration of using third-party technology suggests that Apple's own AI efforts have fallen short of expectations.
Apple's own models could power some on-device features in the upcoming iOS 18 software update, which is traditionally unveiled at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June. But the company is considering partnering with an external provider for generative AI use cases, such as image creation and writing assistance.
Google recently had to pause Gemini's image generation feature after the model created historically inaccurate images. Later, Google CEO Sundar Pichai described Gemini's responses as "completely unacceptable". Last week, Google announced that it was blocking election-related queries to Gemini worldwide. However, TechCrunch noted that users can get around these restrictions by inserting typos into some queries.
Despite these setbacks, Google has an advantage in rolling out smartphone-related features. Earlier this year, the company partnered with Samsung to introduce Gemini-powered AI features on the Galaxy S24 series. The search giant has also launched these features on its own Pixel series of phones.
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