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Apple nears $1B Google deal for custom Gemini model to power Siri

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Re: Apple nears $1B Google deal for custom Gemini model to power Siri

#41

Post by Yizahi »

ddxv wrote: post #14

Mind blowing they couldn't get this to work. It's struck me lately that the models don't seem to matter anymore, they're all equally good. The UX and integration with regular phone features is what makes the tool shine and by now there should be plenty of open source models and know how to create their own. What is Google offering that Apple can't figure out on their own? Maybe people don't personal assitant AI enoug…

LLM business is not a one-shot figure it out and then collect some easy money, it a constant work and expenses just for LLM functionality. So if Apple analyzed this and decided that they would rather rent such capability, it seems quite logical. Also Google already has ties to Apple, they may even strike a deal where search on iOS is bartered (maybe partially) for Gemini service. Win-win. And Google is not going out of business any time soon, so more reliable than any pure-LLM corporation.

Another, less likely possibility is that Apple may be reluctant to steal enough data to train own LLM to a competitive level and then continue this in perpetuity. They have this notion that they are privacy oriented FAANG company, and may want to keep up this idea.

Maybe it is a sum total of a lot of factors, which in the end tilted the decision to a rental model.

Re: Apple nears $1B Google deal for custom Gemini model to power Siri

#42

Post by Yizahi »

jerojero wrote: post #11

I really hope Apple is working hard on improving on-device models for their use case so they can get out of this.

Companies working hard to bring us closer to on-device models are Kingston, Hynix, Micron and the like, not Apple. If they succeed, we will get on-device LLMs sooner. If not, well, it may take a while.

Re: Apple nears $1B Google deal for custom Gemini model to power Siri

#43

Post by peatmoss »

I think the answer here involves licensing and Apple control of the infrastructure, but my first thought was, "I historically trust Apple with my data a bit more than I trust Google, how is this not just trusting Google with my data?"

Apple previously pitched a vision of local-first AI for privacy, but seems to have badly miscalculated the kind of customer experience they could provide. My personal experience is that Siri has suffered greatly.

Case in point, I like to listen to music in the car, and Siri now confidently starts playing artists whose names sound nothing like what I requested. Also maddening "Play [x] on Apple Music" "You'll need to authorize me to use Youtube Music"

Still I live with / pay for so much that is broken based on a kind of Apple privacy vibes inertia. Siri being wired up to more of my personal information plus Apple maybe shipping that data to Google is going to make me reevaluate that.

Re: Apple nears $1B Google deal for custom Gemini model to power Siri

#45

Post by [deleted] »

prossercj wrote: post #10

This is remarkable if you consider how much it must wound Apple's pride to make this deal with their main rival in the smartphone software space, especially after all the fuss they made about "Apple Intelligence". It's a tacit admission that Google is just better at this kind of thing.

[deleted]

Re: Apple nears $1B Google deal for custom Gemini model to power Siri

#46

Post by jb1991 »

prossercj wrote: post #10

This is remarkable if you consider how much it must wound Apple's pride to make this deal with their main rival in the smartphone software space, especially after all the fuss they made about "Apple Intelligence". It's a tacit admission that Google is just better at this kind of thing.

I don't think it hurts their pride at all when they are taking tens of billions from Google so it can be the default search engine on iOS. So they give a little of that back to Google, it's still clear who is doing well in this arrangement between the two companies.

Re: Apple nears $1B Google deal for custom Gemini model to power Siri

#47

Post by cyrusradfar »

wilsonnb3 wrote: post #23
cyrusradfar wrote: post #16

Coincidentally, Google pays Apple over a billion dollars a year (est. at 1.5B) to be the default search in iOS. Could be re-titled. Google closes their trade deficit to half a billion dollars per year.

It’s actually much more than that, $20 billion per year

WHAT -- just had to Google and you're absolutely right! Makes sense that time has moved forward.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/26/23933206/google-apple-se...

I'm still using numbers from a post I wrote in 2016

https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/24/apple-lays-the-groundwork-...

Re: Apple nears $1B Google deal for custom Gemini model to power Siri

#48

Post by ml-anon »

jb1991 wrote: post #44
ml-anon wrote: post #6

If true this is the deal of the century. Apple pay 1/14th of a Wang per year for a top tier model whereas Meta burn multiple Wangs a year in salary alone and get garbage.

What is a "Wang" ?

A Wang is to AI personnel expenditure as a Mooch is to time in a government role.
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