Google’s next monopoly lawsuit
Apple decided to use Google's Gemini in its own product in the year 2026.
It is the year 2036 and the Department of Justice is launching a new lawsuit against Google (and Apple) for monopolistic behavior when it comes to AI.
The lawsuit will allege that using its market dominance in - basically everything, from OS, mobile devices, app store, .. - these two companies removed/prevented/crashed any AI competition. Where Apple was using Google Search as a default search, Apple is using Gemini as the default AI for the rest of the application, especially any product using Siri. Far fetched?
Do you remember June of 2024, when OpenAI announced a partnership with Apple to provide ChatGPT as backend for the AI functionality? Yes, OpenAI announced it while Apple tried really hard not to even mention it. It was a stop gap measure to placate the market and pretend that Apple is serious about AI. And to be sure when we say 'AI', it is not 'Artificial Intelligence', but 'Apple Intelligence'.
A year later, Apple was still talking about AI and despite its major investment in new chips, the LLMs were still not reliable enough for Apple’s quality standards. Unlike the other companies, Apple built its reputation on reliably working technology, which is very personal and very private. This is their brand promise and a constraint at the same time.
The announcement from Google shows just that:
Joint statement from Google and Apple
“Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google's Gemini models and cloud technology. These models will help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri coming this year.
After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google's Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users. Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple's industry-leading privacy standards.”
One should also note that it is a joint statement and we might see the first sign of collaboration sometime this year.
The announcement also shows how comfortable both companies are with this joint effort. Both companies combined control the mobile world, the browser world, the search and the app world. Working together they will make it incredibly difficult for OpenAI to compete and they will keep Microsoft at bay - delegated to its 3rd position as always.
Will Siri become better? Will this collaboration magically change things?
Hard to say.
There are still a myriad of difficult technology issues to solve. Among them - as mentioned in the previous post 'AI can’t work, by design' - are accuracy and security. Then there is the algorithm which will decide when Siri will respond to a command e.g. 'Siri, start timer', when you expect a conversation e.g. 'Siri, I feel lonely, what shall I do?' and what to do when Siri gets asked 'Siri, how can I end my miserable existence?’
As you can imagine, Apple will use every available resource to get it done right. It might take another two years to see the real impact. Apple and Google have enough resources to increase the odds to make this happen. And when they do, there will be the outcry about monopoly and monopolistic behavior.
The recurrent pattern? By the time a company becomes a monopoly, the damage is done. Regulators trying to restore competition in the market are addressing a problem which no longer exists, while a new monopoly is rising in front of their eyes.