The iPhone 16’s AI features might rely on Google Gemini

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We’ve been hearing for a while that Apple is working hard to bring AI features to the iPhone 16 line, but rather than developing these from scratch it seems that Apple might rely at least partially on Google’s AI models.

This is according to a report at Bloomberg (via 9to5Google), which states that Apple is in “active negotiations” to license Google Gemini, Google’s latest large language model (LLM) and AI chatbot.

It’s not clear exactly what features Apple would use Google Gemini for, but the report gives the example of text and image generation, which could mean things like AI-generated wallpapers or article summaries.

The same AI everywhere

If Apple does license Gemini then we could find that all the leading smartphone brands have similar AI features, since as well as using its own AI on the Google Pixel 8 line, Google Gemini is also used for some of the AI features on the Samsung Galaxy S24 series.

That has resulted in near-identical AI features being offered on the Pixel 8 and Galaxy S24, with some even sharing the same branding, such as Circle to Search, which is available across both lines.

It seems unlikely that Apple would deliver the same features with the same branding though; rather, we’d expect the company to leverage Google Gemini to power AI tools of its own creation.

And that’s if this partnership goes ahead – Apple has reportedly also been in talks with OpenAI, so it might use a different LLM instead.

Apple’s own AI

Either way, Apple probably won’t be completely reliant on another company’s AI models, as the company is reportedly spending over $1 billion a year on AI development; and – as spotted by Thurrott – the company recently revealed that it has been working on a set of LLMs called MM1, designed for natural language inference, answering questions based on visuals, and captioning images.

So it sounds like even though Apple hasn’t announced any major AI features yet, it has been quietly working on some – although if it’s also approaching Google and OpenAI, it’s perhaps not as far along as Google is.

We might get a clearer idea at Apple’s WWDC 2024 developer event, which is likely to be held in June and will probably include the announcement of iOS 18. Or, failing that, we should see some of what Apple has been working on alongside the announcement of the iPhone 16 line, which we’re expecting to happen in September.

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