Apple's New Siri Powered by Gemini

The Big News: Apple x Google — A Billion-Dollar Deal

Apple has agreed to pay Google approximately $1 billion per year to use Gemini as Siri's primary AI engine. This deal is significant on multiple levels:

• Apple acknowledged its own AI was not sufficient — after years of in-house AI development, Apple decided that partnering with Google would be faster and more effective
• Google gains access to over a billion iPhone users — Gemini will be embedded in every Apple device that updates to iOS 26.4
• The deal mirrors the Search Engine agreement — Apple previously received payments from Google to remain the default search engine on Safari, a deal worth over $20 billion per year

Exciting New Features

The Gemini-powered Siri comes with several new capabilities that fundamentally change how people use their smartphones:

1. On-Screen Awareness — Understanding What's on Your Screen

The most compelling feature is On-Screen Awareness — Siri can now "see" and "understand" what is currently displayed on your iPhone screen. For example:

• Browsing a restaurant website, you say "Book a table here tonight" — Siri extracts the restaurant details from the screen and makes the reservation
• Receiving a flight confirmation email, you say "Add this flight to my calendar" — Siri pulls the flight information from Mail and creates a Calendar event
• Viewing a photo, you say "Send this to Mom" — Siri sends the photo you're looking at via Messages

2. Multi-Step Task Execution

The new Siri doesn't just answer questions — it can execute multi-step workflows from a single command:

• "Find a Japanese restaurant near work, book a table for 4 on Friday, and send the details to my team" — Siri searches, books, and shares information in one go
• "Look up flights to Chiang Mai next week, compare prices, and send the options to my wife" — Siri aggregates data from multiple sources and sends a summary

3. Cross-App Integration

What makes the new Siri dramatically different from previous versions is its ability to work seamlessly across multiple apps:

• Extract flight information from Mail, share details via Messages, and add it to Calendar
• Read reservation data from Notes, create a reminder in Reminders, and share the location via Maps
• Pull images from Photos, edit text in Pages, and send an email via Mail

4. Conversational AI — Continuous Context

The new Siri can remember conversation context. You can carry on a natural conversation without restarting your command each time:

• "What's the weather today?" followed by "What about tomorrow?" followed by "Should I bring an umbrella if it rains?" — Siri understands the context throughout the entire conversation

Feature	Old Siri	Siri + Gemini
Screen Understanding	Not available	On-Screen Awareness
Multi-Step Tasks	Very limited	Full Multi-Step Execution
Cross-App	Select apps only	All apps supported
Context Memory	Not available	Continuous conversation
AI Engine	Apple ML	Google Gemini

Privacy: Apple Private Cloud Compute

One of the primary concerns when Apple partners with Google is privacy. Apple addresses this with its Private Cloud Compute (PCC) technology:

This approach differs fundamentally from using ChatGPT or Gemini directly, where data is sent to the provider's servers. By placing PCC as an intermediary layer, Apple allows users to benefit from advanced AI without sacrificing privacy.

A Delayed Journey: From 2025 to 2026

Apple originally announced AI features for Siri at WWDC 2024, with an expected launch in 2025. However, the timeline slipped multiple times:

• Mid-2025 — Apple acknowledged that "Apple Intelligence" was not ready; several features were delayed
• Late 2025 — Reports emerged that Apple was in negotiations with Google about Gemini
• January 2026 — Apple and Google officially signed the agreement
• March 2026 — Siri + Gemini launched via iOS 26.4

This delay illustrates that developing production-ready AI is extraordinarily difficult. Even a company like Apple, with virtually unlimited resources, ultimately concluded it needed an external AI partner.

Apple's decision to use Gemini rather than building from scratch sends a clear signal: foundational AI models require specialized investment and expertise at a scale that makes partnerships more practical than going it alone — even for the world's most valuable company.

- Lesson from the Apple x Google Gemini Deal, March 2026

Impact on Enterprise Users

For businesses and organizations, the Gemini-powered Siri will change several aspects of how work gets done:

Benefits for Businesses

• Increased productivity — employees can issue more complex voice commands, reducing time spent switching between apps
• Cross-app data management — extract data from email, schedule meetings, and share documents in a single command
• Improved multilingual support — Gemini's language capabilities are significantly better than the old Siri, including for Thai language users

Concerns for Businesses

• Corporate data privacy — even with PCC, organizations should review their data security policies when employees use Siri with sensitive information
• Vendor dependency — Siri now depends on both Apple and Google; if Gemini experiences issues, Siri will be affected too
• Upgrade costs — older devices may not support iOS 26.4, requiring organizations to plan device upgrade cycles

In an era where AI plays an increasingly central role, it is essential for organizations to maintain robust authentication systems and reliable digital signatures to prevent unauthorized access to data through AI channels.

Impact on Thai Users

For iPhone users in Thailand, this change has several noteworthy implications:

Aspect	Impact
Thai Language	Gemini's Thai language capabilities are significantly better than old Siri, enabling smoother Thai voice commands
Local Services	Cross-app integration may initially be limited with Thai-specific apps like LINE and banking apps
Device Compatibility	Requires iPhone 15 Pro or later, or any iPhone 16, for full feature support
Thai Developers	New opportunities to build apps that leverage Siri Intents with the Gemini API

Timeline and Availability

• March 2026 — iOS 26.4 launches with Siri + Gemini in the United States
• April 2026 — Expansion to English-speaking countries (UK, Australia, Canada)
• Q2-Q3 2026 — Additional language support, expected to include Thai
• WWDC 2026 (June 2026) — Apple expected to unveil additional Siri + Gemini capabilities

Conclusion: A New Era for AI Assistants

The Apple x Google Gemini deal for Siri marks a pivotal moment in the AI industry:

• It demonstrates that even the largest tech companies must collaborate in the AI era
• It raises the bar for smartphone AI assistants by a significant margin
• It creates competitive pressure for Samsung, Google (for Pixel), and other manufacturers to accelerate their own AI development
• It opens new opportunities for developers and businesses looking to leverage AI in their workflows

For organizations in Thailand and across Asia, the key takeaway is to prepare for this transformation — by updating devices, reviewing security policies, and identifying opportunities to use AI to improve productivity. At the same time, it is important to recognize that AI is a tool that enhances human capability, not a replacement for it.

Related reading: Comparing AI: ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini and Data Security in the Digital Age

References

• Bloomberg — Apple Pays Google $1B for Gemini to Power New Siri
• The Verge — Apple's Siri Gets a Brain Transplant with Google Gemini
• Apple Newsroom — Siri Reimagined: Smarter, More Personal, More Capable
• Google Blog — Gemini Powers the New Siri Experience
• Reuters — Apple-Google Gemini Deal Transforms Siri Into AI Powerhouse