Regarding recent rumors that "Google will take over the AI control of iPhone," Apple officially clarified today. Apple clearly stated that it has not transferred the control of Siri or Apple Intelligence to Google, and there are clear boundaries in the cooperation between the two companies.

Apple

According to the information, the cooperation between Apple and Google is essentially a licensing and "guidance" of underlying technology. Apple pays an annual fee of about $1 billion (approximately 6.988 billion RMB) to obtain the license of Google's Gemini model. However, this model is not directly available to users, but rather acts as a "behind-the-scenes mentor," assisting in training Apple's self-developed basic model in the background to enhance its intelligent performance. This means that the core driving force behind the AI features experienced by users on iPhone17 and other devices still comes from Apple.

Regarding the much-discussed privacy protection, Apple has established a solid "data isolation" barrier. Unlike the default protocol of search engines, Gemini does not run directly on the iPhone device and cannot access any user data. All interactions are still processed on Apple-controlled servers or local devices, ensuring the privacy and security of iPhone users.

Although some comments suggest that this move indicates Apple's lag in the AI race, the industry generally views it as a practical strategic collaboration. Before Apple's self-developed trillion-parameter model is fully mature, introducing mature external technology allows new versions like iOS26.4 to quickly gain leading intelligent experiences. Apple has not stopped its self-research efforts; its AI team continues to expand, aiming to ultimately build a complete intelligent system within the Apple ecosystem.

Key points:

  • 🤝 Not System Takeover: Google's Gemini only acts as a "mentor" in the background to assist in training the model, and the control of Siri remains firmly in Apple's hands.

  • 🔒 Strong Privacy Isolation: Both parties follow a "zero data sharing" mechanism, and Google cannot obtain any private information of iPhone users.

  • 🚀 Strategic Collaboration: Apple introduced external technology by paying an annual fee of $1 billion, aiming to ensure the AI competitiveness of new products like iPhone17 during the transition period before its self-developed model matures.