A new report from Counterpoint Research says that the just-announced Apple-Google partnership is a “step forward for Apple Intelligence.”
Yesterday CNBC reported that Apple is teaming up with Google to use Gemini models for an AI-powered Siri. The multiyear partnership will lean on Google’s Gemini and cloud technology for future Apple foundational models, according to a joint statement obtained by CNBC’s Jim Cramer.
Counterpoint says that Apple’s struggle to develop a competitive language model has been widely discussed over the last two years since the company’s 2024 Worldwide Developer ConferenxWWDC 2024. From the research group’s report: This challenge is likely a technical byproduct of the company’s strict privacy foundations—the very thing that differentiates the iPhone. However, maintaining such high privacy standards limits the data access required to build a frontier LLM on par with Google, whose business model is built on vast, diverse data collection.
Despite a perceived lag in AI, Apple has remained resilient, even securing the top spot in global smartphone shipments in CY 2025. However, 2026 marks a turning point as Google gains significant ‘mind share’ through its advanced Gemini models and a growing list of AI-driven use cases. This partnership further strengthens Gemini’s positioning in the GenAI space.
For Apple, it will help it divert the uncomfortable questions from investors around not taking concrete steps in the AI space. Additionally, this might find Apple attracting back talent in the same space.
Although on the other hand, Apple risks losing competitive advantage unless there are Gemini-powered features which are exclusive to the iOS ecosystem and an AI experience which is completely differentiated from other competitors using Gemini
Apple will still have time to work on its own model, but catching up on some of the existing models will take time and talent. Something Apple needs to look into. We have already seen Apple taking a cooperative approach rather than a competitive approach and then slowly finding its way to an in-house model strategy
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