Apple rebuilt Siri around Google Gemini at WWDC 2026, the centerpiece of a keynote that doubled as Tim Cook’s farewell as CEO. The new Siri, arriving with iOS 27, is powered by a custom 1.2-trillion-parameter Gemini model and backed by an Extensions system that lets iPhone users summon ChatGPT and Claude alongside Google’s frontier model.
Siri, Rebuilt on Gemini
Apple’s decision to license a custom Gemini variant ends years of on-again, off-again attempts to turn Siri into a genuine assistant. The 1.2-trillion-parameter model is fine-tuned for Apple’s voice interface, on-device silicon, and privacy architecture — giving Siri the conversational and multi-step reasoning it has lacked for a decade.
iOS 27 and Extensions
iOS 27 introduces a multi-model Extensions framework: users opt in to additional providers, and Siri routes tasks to the model best suited for them — Gemini across the board, ChatGPT for creative work, and Claude for enterprise analysis. The approach turns Siri into a router rather than a single model, echoing the agent-routing trend sweeping the industry.
Cook’s Final Keynote
Tim Cook used the stage to close an era, tying the rebuilt Siri to Apple’s promise that Apple Intelligence stays on Apple terms — even when the intelligence is licensed. His handoff to the next generation of leadership positions AI partnerships, rather than an in-house foundation model, as the strategy going forward.
What This Means
The deal marks the most consequential Apple-Google collaboration since the search default arrangement two decades ago, and it reshapes the frontier landscape: Apple gets best-in-class models without building a trillion-parameter lab, while Google locks in distribution across two billion devices. For Siri users, the question is whether real intelligence — finally — sticks.