From Gemini to Vision Pro: Google and Apple Deepen Their Collaboration

Google and Apple, which dominate the smartphone operating system (OS) market, are strengthening their cooperation in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). After Apple chose Google's Gemini as the AI model to be embedded in the iPhone, it has been expanding the scope of collaboration by supporting a YouTube app on its extended reality (XR) device, Vision Pro.

According to the IT industry on the 19th, Apple recently began supporting the viewing of all videos uploaded to YouTube, including Shorts, on Vision Pro through the "YouTube for visionOS" app. Users can enjoy content curated to match Vision Pro's characteristics, such as spatial videos, virtual reality (VR) videos, and 3D videos, and extended reality is cited as an advantage for delivering a high level of immersion.

YouTube app running on Vision Pro. Apple App Store screenshot.

Through the iOS 26.3 update that has been rolling out since the 11th, Apple has also added a new feature that allows users to transfer data from an iPhone to a smartphone running Google Android when switching devices. Previously, when an iPhone user switched to an Android smartphone, they had to use a separate app or connect a cable to transfer data, but now they can send data wirelessly and directly from the iPhone.

This "sleeping with the enemy" between Google and Apple gained momentum when Apple announced that it would use Google's Gemini as the base model for its AI services. In a joint statement on the 12th of last month, the two companies said, "We have signed an agreement to build the next-generation Apple AI foundation model based on Google's Gemini model and cloud technology."

Apple, which has long been viewed as lagging behind competitors in both the development of its own AI models and AI services, has begun opening up its previously closed ecosystem to Google in order to strengthen its AI competitiveness, starting with the adoption of Gemini.

As a result, Apple AI services such as "Apple Intelligence" and the personal assistant "Siri" are expected to run on Gemini within this year.

However, there are growing expectations that the rollout of Apple's key AI features based on Gemini will be delayed beyond the originally anticipated timeline, as they must go through an update process. Major foreign media outlets have reported that Apple discovered serious bugs during recent tests of Siri and has scrapped its plan to include the Gemini-based Siri in the iOS 26.4 update that was scheduled for next month.