Apple is seeking Google’s assistance to enhance AI capabilities on iPhones by 2024.

Apple is actively involved in bringing AI technology to iPhones this year, and the upcoming iOS 18 release is expected to see these changes. But the company is reportedly willing to use other existing AI models to power iOS for iPhones, giving them more features and tools. According to a report from Bloomberg on Monday, Apple is in talks with both Google and OpenAI to see if their AI models can be used to integrate some cloud-based generative AI features for iPhone users this year.

Apple will likely rely on either of these companies to bring image and text creation tools to iPhones, something the company may struggle to accomplish given its device’s AI architecture. It’s interesting to see Apple looking for AI partners, but not at all surprising that it could join forces with its competitors to offer AI capabilities to its customers. Apple has wanted to go in a different direction with its focus on AI tools.

So the fact that it’s talking to Google and even OpenAI suggests that some of its internal processes haven’t gone as planned, forcing the company to look at Plan B, which comes in the form of external partnerships. According to the report, Apple is only talking to Google for now, so we can’t be sure if the deal will go through, at least not until WWDC 2024 takes place around June this year. Either way, it’s worth keeping an eye on, especially if Apple’s big AI effort, as Tim Cook claims, comes to fruition in 2024, as it looks set to enter a highly competitive and booming space this year.

Google has already shown its intention to work with other companies and help them power their platforms with AI technology. The company offers Gemini on Samsung’s latest Galaxy S24 smartphones and wants other brands to consider running its AI model on those devices. Google has recently run into its own problems with AI, most notably with an AI image generator that made an “invalid error” and had to be deployed to fix the problem.

Industry reports say that AI-powered smartphones are a lucrative and booming space where the likes of Apple, Google and OpenAI will have a big say in the near future.