There are reportedly talks between Apple and Google to add some Gemini-powered features to iPhones. The Cupertino based company is also holding discussions with ChatGPT creator OpenAI.

While the tech giant may be developing new AI features and a massive language model for iOS 18, it is also reportedly in talks with Google to bring some Gemini-powered features to iPhones. The alliance between the two behemoths of tech could upend the AI sector and provide Google Gemini with much-needed momentum.

Apple may consider licensing Google Gemini’s underlying technology in order to incorporate AI-powered features into the upcoming iOS version, which could be the largest iOS update in years, according to industry sources cited by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The Cupertino-based tech behemoth may look to Google for features like image generation and writing assistance, even though some AI features may make use of Apple’s internal models.

Gurman added that Apple’s upcoming AI-powered features for iOS 18 will probably operate on the device itself, so sophisticated functions like providing writing prompts and assisting with image creation might not be possible for them to accomplish.

The tech giant’s in-house models may not be performing as well as expected in some areas, according to recent discussions with third-party providers like Google. Last year, job listings at Apple suggested that the company was working on several AI-powered features.

Google has a history of introducing AI-powered features to mobile devices. In addition to providing a few AI-only features on Pixel devices, the company has partnered with Samsung to provide generative AI features, such as Circle to Search, on the recently released Galaxy S24 series. Google might not be the only AI startup that Apple is negotiating with, though. According to the report, the tech giant is in talks with OpenAI about utilizing GPT models.

If Google manages to land the deal with Apple, it will be pivotal to giving Gemini the much-needed boost in the highly competitive AI industry. In the last few weeks, Gemini has repeatedly found itself in hot waters, generating images of historical figures and images inaccurately, declining to depict white people, comparing Elon Musk’s influence to that of Adolf Hitler’s and labelling certain policies implemented by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ‘fascist’.

Google and Apple’s partnership is not new. Last year during the Epic Games vs Google trial, the tech giant accidentally revealed that it has been paying a whopping 36 per cent cut of the ad revenue it earns from Safari users’ search queries to Apple.