Apple is reportedly in talks to build Google’s recently launched Gemini artificial intelligence model into the iPhone.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple, which is yet to launch its own large language model (LLM) application like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, is in negotiations to licence Gemini to power some iPhone features set to launch this year.

The report notes that Apple had also held talks with the Microsoft-backed OpenAI.

Apple chief exec Tim Cook earlier this year said that the company would make a big announcement on its AI strategy at some stage in 2024, though this report would suggest that the iPhone maker is not as far along in its development of AI tech as many had assumed.

Bloomberg notes that Apple has been testing its own LLM codenamed Ajax since last year, but the company’s tech “remains inferior” to that of its competitors.

The next major iPhone update, iOS 18, will incorporate new on-device AI-powered capabilities, with the report saying that the company is “seeking a partner to do the heavy lifting of generative AI, including functions for creating images and writing essays based on simple prompts”.

Apple has long partnered with Google, with the Alphabet-owned company spending billions annually to make its search engine the default on Safari. A new deal would give Gemini, the recently revamped version of Google’s Bard tech, a much more prominent position in the AI space.

Google already has a partnership with Samsung to power AI features on its latest smartphones with Gemini.

The report however cautions that any partnership between Google and Apple could come under regulatory scrutiny, with the pair’s existing deal already being targeted by a US Department of Justice lawsuit which argues that the companies have operated as a single entity to effectively monopolise the mobile device search market. The European Union has also targeted the partnership on similar grounds.

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