New Siri: Apple Almost Chose a Different Partner Before Google Gemini - MacRumors
Skip to Content

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

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.

iOS 18 Siri Personal Context
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.

Popular Stories

Siri App

Apple Seemingly Killed Siri AI Waitlist Workaround in macOS 27 Beta 2

Wednesday June 24, 2026 5:00 am PDT by
Apple appears to have closed the loophole that let Mac users skip the Siri AI waitlist in the latest macOS 27 Golden Gate beta. As we covered earlier this month, beta 1 testers can switch on the enhanced version of Siri straight away using a single Terminal command, effectively sidestepping Apple's waitlist. However, many users who are running the second developer beta of macOS 27, which...
Siri AI

Tim Cook Holds 'Constructive' Talks With EU Over Siri AI Launch

Wednesday July 1, 2026 4:49 am PDT by
Apple CEO Tim Cook held "constructive" talks with EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen on Tuesday about releasing Siri AI in the bloc while complying with the bloc's digital rules, reports the Financial Times ($). An EU spokesperson told the publication the virtual meeting had involved a "constructive exchange on topics of common interest, on which the work continues." Siri AI will be available...
watchos 27

Siri AI Comes to Apple Watch in watchOS 27 Beta 3

Monday July 6, 2026 1:24 pm PDT by
With watchOS 27 beta 3, Apple added support for Siri AI and the Siri app, so Apple Watch users can now use the features right from their wrist. Apple said Siri AI would be coming to the watch back when watchOS 27 was first introduced, but the feature wasn't live until now. The Dynamic App Grid that pops up when the Digital Crown is pressed displays the Siri app in the center, and the...

Top Rated Comments

24 weeks ago
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
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kirkster Avatar
24 weeks ago
Yea, would rather have Claude behind the scenes that google. Just going to leave that stuff turned off. Or disable Siri altogether.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
marinersaptcomplex Avatar
24 weeks ago
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.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fatTribble Avatar
24 weeks ago
I was so rooting for HAL 9000 🤓
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Genelec8341 Avatar
24 weeks ago
Since 50% of Gemini training data comes from YT, I believe Apple could have made a better choice.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FatLouie Avatar
24 weeks ago
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.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)