With Google’s Gemini AI working behind the scenes, the next-gen Siri will finally be able to deliver on some of Apple’s promises. The updated voice assistant will be able to answer questions it can’t currently handle, perform everyday tasks like booking travel, and even dabble in the dicey arena of providing emotional support to people during difficult moments.
A new report from The Information sheds additional light on how Apple will use Gemini to improve Siri.
Smarter Siri without the Gemini branding
Siri — a first mover that gave the general public its first taste of what a voice assistant could do when it arrived on the iPhone 4s in 2011 — became a punchline over the years as the limits of its capabilities became painfully obvious. The joke became a nightmare for Apple after ChatGPT and other chatbots arrived on the scene, showing how far behind Apple was in the high-stakes AI race.
At WWDC24, Apple promised to bring Siri up to speed. But many of those promises remain unfulfilled, making the current state of Siri even more embarrassing for Apple.
Apple and Google announced Monday that Gemini would power next-gen Apple Foundation Models and finally give Siri the brain transplant it needs to excel. While the joint announcement confirmed the rumored partnership, both companies stayed tight-lipped on specifics.
On Wednesday, a report from The Information provided insight into how the partnership will actually work, citing an anonymous “person who has been involved in the project.”
As expected, Apple will reportedly fine-tune Gemini’s responses to align with Cupertino’s tone and privacy standards. Google’s AI will run either on-device or on Apple’s privacy-focused cloud servers.
New capabilities reportedly coming to Siri
According to The Information, the initial upgrade — which earlier rumors indicate could debut as early as this spring with iOS 26.4 — will focus on improving Siri’s conversational abilities, enabling the voice assistant to easily answer factual questions the way ChatGPT can.
The new Siri should be able to “tell stories” and even provide basic emotional support, an increasingly popular (although controversial) use for chatbots. If that proves accurate, it will be interesting to see how Apple tunes Siri to provide emotional support, as AI models have struggled to handle safety-sensitive situations well.
Conventional tasks, like serving as a personal travel planner by booking flights and/or hotel rooms, should be on the table in the first Siri update, too. And the new Siri should be able to create notes containing relevant information. Both these features are a step in the direction of offering the sort of truly helpful, and truly personal, cross-app capabilities Apple promised in 2024.
More Siri improvements coming at WWDC26
Later in the year, likely at WWDC26, Apple likely will unveil further upgrades to Siri, according to The Information. These will include the ability to proactively pull information from system apps like Calendar, Mail and Messages, along with giving Siri memory of past conversations.
Siri’s ability to recall past conversations would be a meaningful upgrade, making the assistant more useful and context-aware overall. But this change probably will not go live before iOS 27 arrives in September.
The report suggests that neither Google nor Gemini branding will be visible to end users.
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
