In a surprising move signaling a shift in the competitive tech landscape, Apple announced Monday it will integrate Google’s Gemini AI technology into its iPhone and other devices. The partnership comes as Apple plays catch-up in the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence, having delayed its own major AI rollout until 2026 amid criticisms of Siri’s limitations. This collaboration not only validates Google’s position as an AI leader but also comes on the heels of a notable legal victory for the company, contributing to Alphabet Inc.’s recent surpassing of Apple in market capitalization.
AP
Published January 13, 2026 – 10:56 GMT+1
Apple is partnering with Google to accelerate improvements to its virtual assistant, Siri, and integrate further artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into the iPhone, as the tech giant aims to regain ground in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
The collaboration, announced Monday in a joint statement from the Silicon Valley companies, will leverage Google’s Gemini technology to power a suite of AI features dubbed “Apple Intelligence” across iPhone and other Apple products.
Google and other companies initially took the lead in the AI race, and Apple had previously announced plans to make a significant push into the field with new features expected to arrive with an iPhone software update in 2024. However, many of those AI features have remained under development.
Meanwhile, Google and Samsung have continued to roll out new AI-powered technology on their respective devices. A key area of focus for Apple is a significant overhaul of Siri, which has often been criticized for its limited capabilities and is slated to become a more conversational and versatile assistant capable of handling multiple tasks.
Google even subtly poked fun at the iPhone’s AI limitations in advertisements promoting its latest Pixel phone last summer. These setbacks led Apple to acknowledge last year that the Siri update would not arrive until sometime in 2026.
Apple’s acceptance of Google’s AI technology is seen as a win for Google, which has been steadily introducing Gemini-powered features into its search engine and Gmail. This progress intensifies Google’s competition with OpenAI, whose chatbot ChatGPT already has an agreement to be an option on the iPhone.
“This is a major validation moment for Google,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a research note released Monday. The partnership underscores the growing importance of AI in the consumer technology market.
Google’s advancements in AI have helped its parent company, Alphabet Inc., surpass Apple in market capitalization, reaching a milestone on Monday with a valuation exceeding $4 trillion (€3.4 trillion).
Although Alphabet’s market cap remains approximately $150 billion (€128.5 billion) above Apple’s, the latter had long held the title of the world’s most valuable company before the rise of AI shifted the competitive landscape.
Three other companies joined the $4 trillion (€3.4 trillion) club last year, with AI chipmaker Nvidia being the first in July. Apple and Microsoft also crossed the threshold, though their market valuations have since fallen below $4 trillion (€3.4 trillion).
Nvidia’s market capitalization briefly surpassed $5 trillion (€4.29 billion) in late October before retreating amid concerns that the influx of hundreds of billions of dollars into AI technology could be fueling an investment bubble. Despite these concerns, Nvidia remains at the top, with a market capitalization of $4.5 trillion (€3.86 billion) due to continued strong demand for its AI-designed chips.
Alphabet’s stock price has surged since early September, following a ruling in which Google avoided a U.S. government attempt to dismantle its internet empire. A previous decision had deemed its search engine a monopoly.
To prevent future abuses, the federal judge overseeing the case ordered a restructuring that investors largely interpreted as a mild rebuke, resulting in a 57 percent increase in Alphabet’s stock price and adding $1.4 trillion (€1.2 trillion) to shareholder wealth.
The decision also preserved the long-standing search partnership between Google and Apple. Google currently pays Apple more than $20 billion (€17.14 billion) annually to be the preferred search engine on the iPhone and other Apple products – an arrangement that continues under the judge’s ruling, with some modifications.
