Bloomberg is reporting new details on the partnership between Apple and Google to have Gemini power the revamped Siri next year. Here are the details.
1.2 trillion paramenters for $1 billion
A few days ago, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Google had won the AI bake-off against Anthropic to become Apple’s AI provider for the revamped, AI-powered Siri, set to be released next year.
Interestingly, what reportedly tipped the scales towards Google wasn’t model performance, but rather the price tag.
Now, Gurman has reported further on the value:
“Following an extensive evaluation period, the two companies are now finalizing an agreement that would see Apple pay roughly $1 billion annually for access to Google’s technology, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. The new Siri is on track for next spring, Bloomberg has reported.”
The new report also includes a few technical details regarding the size of the custom-made model that Google will provide Apple:
“Apple Inc. is planning to use a 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model developed by Alphabet Inc.’s Google to help power its long-promised overhaul of the Siri voice assistant, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The iPhone maker is banking on Google’s help to rebuild Siri’s underlying technology, setting the stage for a new slate of features next year. The Google model’s 1.2 trillion parameters — a measure of the AI software’s complexity — would dwarf the level of Apple’s current models.”
For reference, Apple’s in-house cloud-based model has 150 billion parameters, while Apple’s local model (which was made with on-device performance in mind, rather than raw power and size) has 3 billion parameters.
Bloomberg says that project Glenwood, which is the codename of Apple’s effort to look into a third-party provider for Siri’s AI-powered smarts, was overseen by Mike Rockwell, who was recently put in charge of the Siri revamp following an internal shake-up.
... continue reading