Apple and Google are in talks about a possible partnership that would see some of Apple's iPhone software features powered by Google's Gemini AI engine.
Such a deal would strengthen the two companies' long-standing search partnership, under which Google pays Apple around $20 billion a year to remain the default search engine.
Apple is preparing its own AI models for iOS 18, but is looking for a partner for powerful generative AI capabilities such as image and text generation. Google is a potential partner and could reach billions of potential users for Gemini.
Negotiations are ongoing and a deal would likely not be announced before Apple's developer conference in June, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the negotiations. Apple has also been talking to OpenAI and may be considering other partners.
An Apple-Google deal could raise antitrust concerns, as the search engine collaboration is already under investigation by regulators. On the other hand, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which comes into force in April, puts the Apple-Google cooperation on shaky ground for the Google search engine anyway. The Gemini cooperation may be a maneuver to get around the DMA, but still give Apple the Google money and Google a dominant position in Apple's iOS ecosystem.