‘Project Linwood’: Apple’s New Siri is a $1B Google Hybrid

Apple’s “Project Linwood,” the new version of Siri, will be a hybrid system built on a $1 billion-a-year deal with Google. The assistant will use Google’s 1.2 trillion parameter Gemini AI for its most complex “behind-the-scenes” functions.

This “interim solution” is part of Apple’s “Glenwood” project, a high-stakes effort to fix Siri. Google’s “ultrapowerful” AI was chosen after it won a “bake-off” against OpenAI and Anthropic.

The new Siri will use Gemini as its “summariser” and “planner,” enabling it to understand and execute multi-step commands. Apple’s 150-billion parameter models will be relegated to simpler tasks.

This is a reluctant move for Apple, but a necessary one to stay competitive. The project is being managed by top executives Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell.

The entire partnership is built on a foundation of privacy. The Gemini model will be hosted on Apple’s “walled-off” Private Cloud Compute servers, completely blocking Google from accessing any user data.