During Alphabet’s Q4 2025 earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai added to the confusion about where exactly the upcoming Gemini-powered Siri will run. Here is what he said.
A little background
Since Apple confirmed that Google’s Gemini will power Siri’s new features, there has been a lingering question about the privacy aspects of what Tim Cook describes as a “collaboration” between the two companies.
While many assumed Google would have access to user data, Apple vaguely countered the notion with its usual privacy-first speech.
Here’s Apple’s original statement about the collaboration:
“After careful evaluation, we found that Google technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple’s Foundation Models, and we’re excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for our users.”
Currently, Apple’s core models run either on-device or on Private Cloud Compute (PCC), Apple’s AI cloud infrastructure that preserves user privacy when data needs to be uploaded for inference beyond what on-device models can provide.
While Apple’s statement did to dream as Siri powered by Gemini running on its own infrastructure, Bloomberg a few days later he announced that this was unlikely to be the case:
In a potential policy change for Apple, the two partners are discussing hosting the chatbot directly on Google’s servers with powerful chips known as TPUs, or tensor processing units. In contrast, the more immediate Siri update will run on Apple’s own Private Cloud Compute servers, which rely on high-end Mac chips for processing.
A few days later, during Apple’s Q4 2025 earnings call, Tim Cook offered the following information when asked by analyst Ben Reitzes how Apple decided to partner with Google and whether there was “an opportunity (…) to also share revenue”:
Yes, we basically decided that Google’s AI technology would provide the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models. And we believe that thanks to cooperation we can unlock a lot of experiences and innovate in a fundamental way. We will continue to operate on this device and operate in Private Cloud Compute while maintaining our industry-leading privacy standards. Regarding the agreement with Google, we do not disclose the details of it.
This seemed to reaffirm (albeit vaguely) the notion that Gemini-powered Siri would run on Apple’s infrastructure, and that Cook was simply refusing to discuss the financial aspects of the partnership. Which brings us to today.
Sundar Pichai talks collaboration
Earlier during Alphabet’s Q4 2025 earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai’s prepared remarks included the following statement:
“We are working with Apple as their preferred cloud provider and to develop the next generation of Apple Foundation models based on Gemini technology.”
Moments later, sales director Philipp Schindler made an almost identical statement during his own prepared remarks:
“I would like to start by joining Sundar in how pleased we are to be working with Apple as their preferred cloud provider and to develop the next generation of Apple Foundation models based on Gemini technology.”
Putting all the recent vague statements together, it still looks like this:
- Tim Cook’s statement that Apple will “continue to run on the device and run in Private Cloud Compute while maintaining our industry-leading privacy standards” was not directly referring to the Gemini partnership, but rather to other Apple Intelligence features, services and initiatives.
- Apple’s original statement that Google’s technology provided “the most capable foundation for the Apple Foundation Models” did not apply current base models, but rather what Google executives referred to as “the next generation of Apple Foundation models based on Gemini technology.”
- Google is now Apple’s “preferred cloud provider” for… something they didn’t specifically say, but it’s likely Gemini-based Siri.
9to5Mac
Neither Apple nor Google have yet given a definitive answer as to where exactly Gemini-powered Siri will run, so there must be a reason for that. It may be because the per Bloomberg’s the companies are still fine-tuning the details, and the rollout may be gradual, with only “more immediate Siri updates” running on Apple PCCs.
tonight, BloombergMark Gurman doubled down on his previous report, adding that Apple may refer to Siri and Apple Intelligence as separate systems running on separate infrastructures:
Be that as it may, it is clear that neither company is ready to directly address the technical aspects of so-called cooperation. Every statement about where the new Siri will run has been vague and linked to seemingly unrelated aspects and issues.
As things stand, it’s looking increasingly likely that the Gemini-powered Siri will run on Google’s infrastructure, although both companies have declined to confirm. It remains to be seen whether Apple will address the privacy aspects when it officially announces Siri with Gemini.
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