Siri's New Brain
Apple Confirms Google Gemini Powers Personalized Siri Following Strong Q1 2026 Results
Edited by: Dmitry Drozd
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook formally confirmed the integration of Google's Gemini artificial intelligence models into the forthcoming iteration of Siri, designated as personalized Siri and positioned as a central element of Apple Intelligence, during the company's first fiscal quarter earnings call on January 29, 2026. This disclosure addressed the financial performance for the quarter concluding on December 27, 2025, and followed the official January 12, 2026, announcement detailing the strategic partnership between the two technology firms.
During the call, Cook emphasized the foundational structure of the collaboration, reiterating that Google's technology supplies the most capable base for the Apple Foundation Models that will drive the personalized Siri functionality. The financial context for this strategic announcement was robust, with Apple reporting Q1 2026 revenue of $143.8 billion, representing a 16% increase year-over-year. Furthermore, the diluted Earnings Per Share (EPS) for the period reached $2.84, reflecting a 19% year-over-year growth. Key executives present included CEO Cook and Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh, who succeeded Luca Maestri in the role on January 1, 2025.
Investors directed inquiries toward the monetization strategy for Apple Intelligence and the specific financial parameters governing the multi-year agreement with Google. Apple maintained that its commitment to user privacy remains central, stressing its reliance on on-device processing and the Private Cloud Compute architecture to safeguard user data, even when leveraging external foundational models. This strategic dependency on a direct competitor's technology for a flagship feature marks a notable development in Apple's artificial intelligence roadmap.
The partnership underscores the competitive dynamics in developing large language models, compelling market leaders to seek external expertise for rapid feature deployment. While Apple retains proprietary control over the user interface and on-device execution, the reliance on Gemini for complex reasoning tasks highlights the current necessity of securing access to state-of-the-art foundational models. The $143.8 billion revenue figure surpassed analyst consensus estimates for the holiday quarter, providing a strong backdrop for Cook to anchor the technical partnership within the company's positive financial narrative.
The integration is viewed as a pragmatic measure to accelerate the delivery of sophisticated AI features to Apple's user base without the extended internal development cycle required to match current model capabilities. The ongoing dialogue concerning the return on investment for Apple Intelligence, which encompasses personalized Siri, will likely remain a focus for investors throughout fiscal year 2027 as feature utilization data becomes available.
Sources
MacRumors
MacRumors
Gadgets 360
INDmoney
Apple
9to5Mac
Google blog



