The tech industry has been buzzing over Monday’s blockbuster announcement that Apple and Google have joined forces to power the next generation of Siri.
One person who didn’t enjoy the news? Elon Musk.
Responding directly to the news on X, the Tesla and xAI CEO didn’t hide his disdain for the partnership, labeling it a dangerous expansion of Google’s influence.
“This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that [they] also have Android and Chrome,” Musk wrote.
Musk’s reaction follows a deal that had been quietly brewing for months. In August last year, I reported that Apple was weighing Google’s Gemini to reinvent Siri, as the iPhone maker explored outside help to accelerate its AI ambitions. This week, that plan became official.
Apple and Google announced a multi-year collaboration that will see Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology power the next generation of Apple Foundation Models, including a more personalized version of Siri expected later this year.
Why Musk is pushing back
Musk’s criticism goes beyond a single product update. Google already controls Android, Chrome, and a large share of global AI infrastructure — and now, potentially, the intelligence layer behind hundreds of millions of iPhones.
As CEO of xAI, the company behind the Grok assistant, Musk is also a direct competitor to both Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Last year, xAI filed a lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI, accusing them of conspiring to “ensure their continued dominance” in the AI market.
From Musk’s perspective, adding Google to Apple’s AI stack only deepens what he sees as a tightening grip by a handful of tech giants over the future of AI.
Apple’s strategic pivot
For Apple, the Gemini deal marks a clear shift in philosophy. The company has long favored building core technologies in-house, but mounting delays and a slow start in generative AI forced a rethink.
While Apple stressed that Siri and Apple Intelligence will continue to prioritize on-device processing and privacy, the underlying AI capabilities will now rely heavily on Google’s technology, a rare concession for the iPhone maker.
Despite Musk’s concerns, the deal between Apple and Google is a win for Alphabet, whose market valuation surged past $4 trillion on Monday following the announcement. This partnership positions Google as a key player in powering not just search and browsing but also voice assistants across the Android and iOS ecosystems.
When to expect the upgrade
For users, the fruits of this “unreasonable” partnership are expected to arrive this spring. The revamped, Gemini-powered Siri is reportedly scheduled to launch with iOS 26.4, likely hitting devices in March or April 2026.
Unlike Apple’s existing ChatGPT integration, which is optional and reserved for complex queries, Gemini is expected to serve as the default intelligence layer for Siri’s core functions.
Also read: AI predictions for 2026 point to bigger shifts in how companies deploy and govern generative tools.