Apple is in discussions with Google to integrate its Gemini AI engine into the iPhone as part of iOS 18, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In a report citing people familiar with the situation, Gurman claims the two companies are in "active negotiations" to let Apple license Google's generative large-language models in order to power some new features coming in iOS 18.
"The two parties haven't decided the terms or branding of an AI agreement or finalized how it would be implemented," according to the report's sources.
With the release of iOS 18 later this year, Apple is rumored to be bringing major new AI capabilities to its iPhone operating system. According to Gurman, however, Apple is focusing on features that operate on-device and do not require an internet connection.
To power additional cloud-based generative AI features, such as the ability to create images and write essays based on single prompts, Apple is seeking a partner that has the necessary large-scale hardware infrastructure and compute capabilities already in place.
According to previous reporting by Gurman, Apple has been internally testing an "Apple GPT" rival that could compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. The company has also been designing an "Ajax" framework for large language models, and is said to be spending millions of dollars a day on conversational AI research as training language models requires a lot of hardware.
However, the technology is still not as advanced as tools from Google and other rivals, making a partnership look like the better option, according to the latest report.
If the negotiations come to nothing, Apple could seek another generative AI provider such as OpenAI or turn to multiple partners. But if the talks bring about a deal, it could make up for any losses that result from the regulatory pressure facing the two companies' existing search partnership.
Google has paid Apple billions of dollars for several years to keep its search engine the default option in Safari browser on Apple devices. However, the existing deal is facing regulatory scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission over concerns that it helps Google maintain a search monopoly.
Both The Information and analyst Jeff Pu claim that Apple will have some kind of generative AI feature available on the iPhone and iPad around late 2024, which is when iOS 18 will be coming out. However, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in August that there is "no sign" of generative AI technology coming in 2024, and he claimed that Apple's work on generative AI is "significantly behind its competitors."
