Apple’s $1B ‘Interim’ Fix: A Hybrid Siri Powered by Google

Apple has unveiled its $1 billion-a-year “interim solution” to its Siri problem: a new hybrid assistant, codenamed “Linwood,” that will be partially powered by Google’s 1.2 trillion parameter Gemini AI.

This “behind-the-scenes” integration is part of Apple’s “Glenwood” project to fix its lagging assistant. Google’s “ultrapowerful” model was chosen after it won a “bake-off” against OpenAI and Anthropic.

The new Siri will use Apple’s 150-billion parameter models for simple tasks, but all complex “summariser” and “planner” functions will be handled by Google’s AI.

This is a reluctant move for Apple, but a necessary one to stay competitive. The project is being managed by top executives Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell.

The entire partnership is built on a foundation of privacy. The Gemini model will be hosted on Apple’s “walled-off” Private Cloud Compute servers, completely blocking Google from accessing any user data.