Apple Looks at Using Gemini for AI, Report Says. Alphabet Stock Jumps.

The Gemini logo on a smartphone. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg)

Alphabet stock jumped to a record high Friday afternoon after a report said Apple is exploring using Google’s Gemini to run the highly anticipated Siri voice assistant.

Bloomberg reported that the iPhone maker has approached Google to look into possibly building a custom artificial-intelligence model that would be the foundation of the long-awaited AI-powered Siri. The news service cited people familiar with the matter.

Alphabet and Apple didn’t reply to requests for comment.

Shares of Alphabet climbed 3.2% to $206.09. Apple stock was up 1.3% to $227.76.

Both companies are at crucial moments.

Alphabet is waiting for a federal judge to issue orders on what the company should do in response to his ruling last year that the company has a monopoly in both general search services and general text advertising. Possibly remedies could include forcing Google to share search data with competitors, divest its Chrome search engine, or prevent it from entering into exclusive search engine agreements with companies such as Apple.

Meanwhile, Apple investors and customers have been disappointed with the company’s slowness in rolling out AI software. The release of an AI- powered version of Siri, Apple’s digital assistant, has been delayed until next year. Apple has reportedly been in discussions with outside companies including OpenAI and Anthropic as potential partners in powering the tech.

“We believe an Apple-Google partnership to revamp Siri would be well received given concerns around Apple falling behind competitors in regards to AI,” Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani wrote in a note on Friday.

“While we think Apple could develop its own upgrade internally, a Gemini powered upgrade to Siri would accelerate Gen AI adoption and allow for to maintain a less capital-intensive approach to AI,” Daryanani said. He rates Apple at Outperform with a target of $250 for the price.

According to the Bloomberg report on Friday, Apple is still several weeks away from making a decision on whether to continue using internal models for Siri, or move forward with a partner.

Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com