New Siri: Apple Almost Chose a Different Partner Before Google Gemini

[MacRumors]

In a recent interview with the tech podcast TBPN, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman revealed that Apple was initially "going to rebuild Siri around Claude," the large language model and chatbot developed by the company Anthropic. In the end, though, Apple announced that it had decided to use Google's Gemini platform instead.

According to Gurman, Apple went with Google due at least in part to money.

"Anthropic was holding them over a barrel," said Gurman, in a podcast clip shared by TBPN. "They wanted a ton of money from them, several billion dollars a year, and at a price that doubled on an annual basis for the next three years."

Nevertheless, Gurman said Apple currently "runs on Anthropic" internally.

"Anthropic is powering a lot of the stuff Apple's doing internally in terms of product development and a lot of their internal tools," he explained. "They have custom versions of Claude running on their own servers internally, too."

Apple was "not going to use Google" for the revamped Siri until "a few months ago," he said.

Apple announced that it plans to release a more personalized version of Siri powered by Google Gemini this year. It is expected to be part of iOS 26.4, which should enter beta testing in February and be released to the general public in March or April. The new-and-improved Siri likely requires an iPhone 15 Pro or newer.

Back in June 2024, Apple said the revamped Siri will have understanding of personal context, on-screen awareness, deeper in-app controls, and more. At the time, Apple showed an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation plans based on info retrieved from the Mail and Messages apps.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2016911797656367199

Article Link: New Siri: Apple Almost Chose a Different Partner Before Google Gemini

 

[Genelec8341]

Since 50% of Gemini training data comes from YT, I believe Apple could have made a better choice.

 

[marinersaptcomplex]

Claude is better than all right now for complex tasks, genuine work/code, and being what is starting to feel like an “AI coworker.”

But I still don’t think it’s the best consumer LLM. Gemini’s better search capabilities and better google integrations make more sense for an on-device chatbot aimed at the masses to answer quick queries, give general guidance on daily tasks (recipes, shopping, etc.) than Claude.

 

[HouseLannister]

Apple was "not going to use Google" for the revamped Siri until "a few months ago," he said.

Not sure why they need to rush out a beta in February instead of just waiting for WWDC at this point. Gurman still insists LLM Siri is coming in 26.4, but they have only had a few months to throw it together. It may be a very rocky launch (as in Siri will tell you to eat no more than one small rock per a day).

 

[Kirkster]

Yea, would rather have Claude behind the scenes that google. Just going to leave that stuff turned off. Or disable Siri altogether.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

I guess since AI models are pretty much a commodity now a company doesn’t have to pay much for it. Apple/Google is perfect example. Anthropic wanted much more money then Google and Apple is like why should we pay more for electricity? Must have been a wake up call for Anthropic “I guess our AI product isnt so special” lol

 

[Anonymous123]

That has to be one of the worst podcast interfaces I’ve ever seen. Gurman is buried in ads and tickers. It looks even worse than a live news channel!

 

[fatTribble]

I was so rooting for HAL 9000 🤓

 

[omenatarhuri]

Gemini and Claude are both great, Google is not a bad choice given their pipeline and talent, even if Claude is ahead atm in some things

 

[DblHelix]

Neither is bad, but for my workflows and how I use them I would have preferred claude

 

[FatLouie]

Well, I declare. Someone tried to out-greed Apple. 😂

I know a similar story about a company that Apple wanted to release their first smartphone with. That company wanted too much control and whatever else. Apple said no and went with ATT. Heads rolled.

One or more individuals at Antrophic should have lost their jobs.

 

[sleeptodream]

Not sure why they need to rush out a beta in February instead of just waiting for WWDC at this point. Gurman still insists LLM Siri is coming in 26.4, but they have only had a few months to throw it together. It may be a very rocky launch (as in Siri will tell you to eat no more than one small rock per a day).

Agreed. I’d rather they focus on bug fixing 26 tbh, rather than leaving all the visual and other bugs and rushing to get the new Siri out

 

[jz0309]

I don't really care as I have no intentions to use that "feature" unless said "feature" does something that significantly improves my life, coming from a pure consumer perspective, not business.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

That's a shame. Claude is genuinely superior especially when it comes to stuff like tool usage. Moreover it's only a hop and skip away from being able to be New Siri thanks to Computer Usage and MCP capabilities.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Reminds me of when Apple used YouTube, during inception of the iPad.

Then, when they (Apple) no longer needed them, they kicked them to the curb.

Apple is ruthless.

 

[zarmanto]

... It may be a very rocky launch (as in Siri will tell you to eat no more than one small rock per a day).

(If you know, you know.)

 

[iCyprus]

I would prefer Claude over a data-stealing company.

 

[7thson]

There is so much focus on this, I can’t help but feel that it will underwhelm upon launch. This is my personal opinion of course but the amount of misfires by Apple of late makes it unlikely they’ll get this where they want it for at least a year or two.

 

[Nyx1]

Waiting LLM siri but i'am copium still waiting more Apple fix all bug and OS first instead AI thing

 

[neuropsychguy]

Money was a factor, but if the timing is accurate then it was also influenced by Gemini 3. Before 3 Gemini was okay but not great. Now it's terrific and better on average than everything else. ChatGPT 5.2 is pretty close now though. Claude is great too, but as an all-around, there's not really anything better than Gemini 3 currently.

 

[zarmanto]

... "Anthropic was holding them over a barrel," said Gurman, in a podcast clip shared by TBPN. "They wanted a ton of money from them, several billion dollars a year, and at a price that doubled on an annual basis for the next three years." ...

That Google was chosen because they were the lowest bidder was predictable. As in, I predicted it. I think that it will be very interesting to see if the rest of my predictions also come true.

 

[bushman4]

APPLE claims Siri will be secure even though Gemini is part of Google Everybody knows Google is anything but secure or private
Time will tell

 

[ChrisMac47]

All is is kinda amusing given that there quite a few of us who don't want any AI/machine learning in our phones ... I wonder if in future we shall have to pay extra to no AI?

 

[Brother Cavil]

There is so much focus on this, I can’t help but feel that it will underwhelm upon launch.

That's how I feel about all tech these days.

This is my personal opinion of course but the amount of misfires by Apple of late makes it unlikely they’ll get this where they want it for at least a year or two.

Even if Apple delivers a very capable Siri, it's still going to feel underwhelming. We already know what it will be able to do since it's running on Gemini. This is just Apple playing catch-up. Gemini Siri won't be revolutionary or even evolutionary. Underwhelming indeed.

 

[Kr0019]

To think that Apple spent all those billions on a concept car that never got built, when they could've been developing their own AI. It shows how badly out of touch Apple have become when they can't even pick an AI partner with confidence. Steve would be rolling in his grave. They have really dropped the ball big time on this. What a crying shame.