Apple And Google In Talks To Build Gemini AI Machine Into IPhone

JAKARTA - Apple is in talks to build Google's artificial intelligence (AI) Gemini engine into the iPhone. This was first reported by Bloomberg News. The negotiations relate to Gemini's license for several new features to come to iPhone software this year.

Alphabet shares rose 5% in pre-market US trading, while Apple rose 0.5%. There will most likely be no announcement of a deal until June, as Apple plans to hold its developers' annual conferences.

Potential deals between the company could help Google expand its use of its AI services to more than 2 billion active Apple devices, increasing the search giant's efforts to pursue OpenAI-backed Microsoft.

The deal could also help ease investor concerns about Apple's slow launch of the AI app, which has lost its most valuable company crown in the world after a 10% drop in its stock this year.

The companies have years of partnerships that make Google the default search engine in Apple's Safari browser, and AI gene cooperation can help Alphabet units navigate the fear that services like ChatGPT could threaten the dominance of its search.

However, the deal could also invite sharper scrutiny from US regulators, which have sued Google on the grounds of breaking the law by paying Apple billions of dollars to maintain its search engine monopoly.

Google in January partnered with Apple's rival Samsung to implement its AI gene technology in the South Korean company's Galaxy S24 smartphone series, as part of its efforts to increase Gemini's use after several errors during its launch.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said last month that the company was investing significantly in a generative AI and would reveal more about its plans to use the technology later this year.

The Bloomberg report says that Apple plans to use its own AI model for some new capabilities in iOS 18 to come, but is looking for partners to empower AI's gene features, including a function to create images and write essays based on simple clues.