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The New Siri is... Google (Explained)

| 5 products mentioned
Marques Brownlee Marques Brownlee host
Watch on YouTube artificial intelligence apple siri google gemini ai partnerships smartphone features competitive analysis interface design

Marques Brownlee discusses Apple's confirmation that the long-awaited Siri overhaul coming in 2026 will be powered by Google's AI models, marking a significant admission that Apple has fallen behind in the AI race. The partnership highlights a strategic shift where Apple prioritizes delivering the best user experience to customers over developing proprietary AI technology, similar to how Google pays to be the default search engine in Safari. Brownlee explores what this means for Siri's capabilities, potential features like Circle to Search, and the broader principle that controlling the interface matters more than owning the underlying AI models.

Key takeaways
  • • Apple's decision to use Google's foundation models for Siri represents an acknowledgment that the company couldn't develop competitive AI technology internally after years of delays.
  • • Google Gemini is already a top-three LLM on Android phones with strong capabilities, suggesting the new Siri powered by these models could finally become competitive with other AI assistants.
  • • Apple may integrate Google's Circle to Search feature into iOS, which Brownlee describes as one of the most useful AI features of the past five years for visual search and information lookup.
  • • Who controls the interface matters more than who owns the underlying AI models—Apple is betting that keeping Siri integrated into iOS will prevent users from switching to Android despite Google's AI superiority.
  • • The partnership raises unanswered questions about Apple's existing OpenAI integration (ChatGPT fallback) and whether a stronger Siri will eliminate the need for external LLM partnerships.
  • • Tools like Raycast demonstrate that users care about interface quality and functionality over which specific AI model powers a feature, suggesting Apple's strategy of wrapping Google's models in superior iOS integration could work.

Recommendations (3)

Circle to Search recommends

"Circle to Search is one of the absolute most useful AI features to me of the entire last 5 plus years where you can circle whatever's on your screen."

Marques Brownlee · ▶ 5:33

Raycast
Raycast uses

"I use a tool that I've talked about in the past actually on my Mac called Raycast. And it's awesome."

Marques Brownlee · ▶ 6:16

Gemini
Gemini recommends

"I think Gemini on Android phones is already really good. They've looped in now a lot of the old Google Assistant features. So Gemini as a product is really good."

Marques Brownlee · ▶ 4:13

Mentioned (2)

ChatGPT
ChatGPT "Siri, as you know, now will kick out to ChatGPT for any complex request that is too much for Siri..." ▶ 3:20
Safari
Safari "Google's paid Apple billions of dollars over the years to be the default search engine in Safari." ▶ 2:19

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