Apple gets full Gemini access and uses distillation to build lightweight on-device AI

Apple has secured broad access rights to Google's Gemini models. According to The Information, Apple has full access to Gemini within its own data centers and can use distillation to build smaller models from it. Gemini generates high-quality answers along with its chain of thought, which then serve as training data for a smaller model. In short, Apple is paying for what Chinese AI companies are allegedly doing in secret: tapping a powerful AI model to generate quality training data for a smaller one.

Because Apple has full access, it can build smaller versions that give the same answers as Gemini and arrive at them the same way. These lighter versions need far less processing power and can run directly on Apple devices.

Since Gemini is built for chatbots and enterprise applications, it doesn't always line up with Apple's plans for Siri, according to The Information. But Apple is still building its own models in parallel through its Apple Foundation Models team. New AI features could drop at Apple's developer conference in June.