While Apple will use Gemini for next-gen Siri, it will reportedly customize the model as per its requirements. And despite the partnership, Siri will lack all Google or Gemini integration.
A report from The Information sheds more light on how Apple will use Gemini to improve Siri.
Smarter Siri without the Gemini branding
On January 12, 2026, Apple announced it would use Google Gemini to power Apple Foundation Models. While the joint announcement confirmed the partnership, both companies stayed tight-lipped on the specifics.
The Information provides insight into how the partnership will actually work. Apple will reportedly fine-tune Gemini’s responses to align with its own tone and privacy standards.
The report also suggests that neither Google nor the Gemini branding will be visible to end users.
The smarter Gemini-powered Siri should debut as early as this spring with iOS 26.4. The initial upgrade will focus on improving Siri’s conversational abilities, enabling the voice assistant to easily answer more factual questions, tell longer stories and even provide basic emotional support.
If 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.
Additionally, Apple plans to let Siri handle more complex tasks, such as booking travel tickets and creating notes with relevant information.
More Siri improvements coming at WWDC26
Later in the year, at WWDC 2026, Apple will announce further upgrades to Siri. This will include the ability to proactively pull information from system apps like Calendar, Mail, and Messages, along with giving the voice assistant 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 will seemingly only go live with iOS 27 in September this year.
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.
