(Jan 13): Alphabet Inc’s Google confirmed that it has entered a multi-year deal with Apple Inc to power the iPhone maker’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology, including the Siri voice assistant.
“After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google’s AI technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users,” the two companies said on Monday in a joint statement. Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
Bloomberg reported late last year that the two companies were finalising such a deal, with Apple planning to pay about US$1 billion ($1.29 billion) a year.
Shares of Alphabet rose as much as 1.7% on Monday, while Apple was up less than 1%.
In the statement, the companies said that Apple would maintain its privacy standards by continuing to run its AI services on consumers’ devices or via private cloud compute — a secure online system. The Google technology will help support a new version of Siri that is due this year.
Apple had previously delayed the update after development snags, part of broader struggles to introduce AI features.
See also: Trump team close to Taiwan trade deal with more US chip investment — Bloomberg
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