Google's Cloud chief just confirmed the deal: Gemini will power the new Siri this year

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said the quiet part on stage at Cloud Next 2026 in Las Vegas: “We’re collaborating with Apple as their preferred cloud provider to develop the next generation of Apple Foundation Models based on Gemini technology,” Kurian told the keynote audience, adding that the work will “help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri coming later this year.” Apple has not commented.

What we know

• The quote. Kurian’s line is the first on-record confirmation from either company that Gemini is the engine behind the new Siri. Mark Gurman first reported the Apple-Google deal in March, but 9to5Mac notes Apple itself never confirmed the partner until Kurian’s keynote.
• Preferred cloud provider. That phrasing matters. It implies a primary, not auxiliary, role for Google Cloud in serving Apple Intelligence. Kurian didn’t say “exclusive,” and Apple’s Private Cloud Compute infrastructure remains in the picture, but the framing puts Gemini at the center of the new stack.
• Timeline. AppleInsider summarized it as a “later in 2026” launch. That tracks Apple’s own statements about a context-aware Siri rollout this year, and lines up with iOS 27, which lands alongside the iPhone 18 in September.
• Apple Foundation Models, not raw Gemini. Kurian said “Apple Foundation Models based on Gemini technology.” Apple is reportedly using Gemini as the base and fine-tuning on its own data, which is consistent with the architecture Apple disclosed for its earlier Apple Intelligence stack (small on-device models plus a private cloud tier for the heavier work).
• WWDC is the next beat. Apple’s developer conference opens June 8. eWeek points out that’s the obvious place for Apple’s own announcement, with developer betas through the summer ahead of a September consumer launch.

What’s still unclear

• What Apple actually shipped on its own. Apple has spent two years pitching Apple Intelligence as a privacy-first, mostly on-device system. A Gemini-backed Siri reframes the marketing. Apple hasn’t said which queries stay on device, which hit Private Cloud Compute, and which now route to Google’s data centers.
• Cost and exclusivity. MacRumors flags the Bloomberg estimate that Apple is paying Google roughly a billion dollars a year for the model. Neither company has confirmed it. Whether Apple can swap engines (to OpenAI, Anthropic, or its own future model) without re-architecting Siri is the medium-term question.
• Privacy framing. Apple’s existing Private Cloud Compute design uses signed Apple silicon and stateless processing. A Gemini-powered tier doesn’t automatically inherit those properties. Where Apple draws the line on Google’s logging and retention will set the privacy story for the launch.

Who said what

Kurian on stage. Apple silent. The reporting chain is consistent across MacRumors, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, and eWeek because they’re all citing the same keynote line.

What this means for you

If you’re a developer betting on Apple Intelligence APIs, the underlying model swap probably won’t break your code, but the latency and rate-limiting profile will change. Apple’s Foundation Models API has been tightly metered while the new stack came together. Expect a quota bump at WWDC plus a clearer story on which prompts go where.

If you’re an Apple user, the practical change is that Siri should finally have a working memory across apps. That’s the part Apple has been promising since June 2024 and missing since. Whether Google Cloud is what unlocks it or Apple’s own coming model is what unlocks it doesn’t really matter to the user. What matters is that Apple has now publicly chosen a partner and a date.

My read: Tim Cook’s Apple is now buying inference from the same company that ships Pixel and the Pixel’s Gemini-on-device Siri rival. That’s not a comfortable position, and it explains Apple’s coding-bootcamp scramble earlier this month. WWDC 2026 is suddenly the most consequential Apple keynote since the iPhone X.