Apple’s ‘AI woes’ are likely to come to an end after the iPhone maker announced partnership with rival Google. The company is undergoing one of its most significant strategic shift in a decade with the decision of abandoning its “in-house only” preference, and at the centre of this realignment is Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering. Known for defining the modern era of iOS and macOS, Federighi reportedly emerged as the architect of “Apple Intelligence” by pushing the company away from internal delays and toward a hybrid future powered by Google Gemini.According to a detailed report from The Information, Apple is now officially blending its compact, on-device models with external “heavyweight” solutions to catch up in a race it has been accused of losing. The report says that in December, Apple consolidated its AI leadership under Federighi’s software organisation.
Craig Federighi’s joint meeting of Apple’s software and AI teams
Reportedly, in a joint meeting of Apple’s software and AI teams last fall, Federighi expressed ‘significant dissatisfaction’ with the slow pace of Apple’s Foundation Models team. Fast forward to January 2026, after Federighi’s go-ahead, the company announced the integration of Google Gemini into the Apple ecosystem.“Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology. These models will help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri coming this year,” the company announced.“After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google’s Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users. Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy standards,” it added.
Craig Federighi rational and cost-conscious approach
Federighi’s reportedly recognised that Apple’s internal models which are optimised for privacy and on-device performance are not a match with the reasoning capabilities of large-scale LLMs, and moved forward with green-lighting of Gemini deal. This means that apple is expected to power a “redesigned Siri” later this year.Moreover, unlike OpenAI, Meta or Google, which are burning billions on massive data centres, Federighi is reportedly maintaining a “cost-conscious” approach.With the partnership, the company is avoiding high infrastructure costs by running as many AI functions as possible directly on the iPhone’s silicon. Additionally, for cloud-based complex tasks, the data is sent to Apple’s own server chips, ensuring privacy even when using external models. Further, Apple’s long-term plan involves “compressing” external models to run locally.
About the Author
