Apple's WWDC AI Stack: Gemini-Built Models, Google Cloud and an EU Gap
· TexaHub · LLMs & Foundation Models, Product & Platform Reviews, Regulation & Ethics
Apple's third-generation foundation models were built with Google, Private Cloud Compute now runs partly on Google Cloud, and Siri AI is withheld from EU iPhones.
A model family built with Google
At WWDC on 8 June, Apple said the new Apple Intelligence features run on "the next generation of Apple Foundation Models, custom-built in collaboration with Google and its Gemini models" [1]. Apple's machine learning research team described five models in this third generation [3]. Two run on device: AFM 3 Core, a 3-billion-parameter dense model, and AFM 3 Core Advanced, a 20-billion-parameter sparse model that activates 1 to 4 billion parameters at a time [3]. Three run on servers through Private Cloud Compute: AFM 3 Cloud, the image model ADM 3 Cloud (Image), and AFM 3 Cloud Pro, the most capable of the set [3].
Apple reported human preference results rather than standard benchmarks, saying AFM 3 Core was preferred on 45.6% of prompts against 23.3% for its 2025 baseline, and that its new server model was preferred on 64.7% of prompts against 8.7% for the 2025 AFM Server model [3]. A 20-billion-parameter sparse model on a phone is large by consumer standards, as 9to5Mac noted, since most on-device models sit in the low single-digit billions [9].
The headline consumer product is Siri AI, which Apple says uses its foundation models on device and through Private Cloud Compute to handle personal context, onscreen awareness and actions across apps [2]. It is available to developers now and will reach users as a beta later this year for devices set to English [2]. The broader Apple Intelligence update is scheduled for public beta next month and release in the autumn, on hardware from the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 onwards [1].
Private Cloud Compute leaves Apple's data centres
The less visible change is architectural. For AFM 3 Cloud Pro, Apple says it "worked with Google and NVIDIA to extend Private Cloud Compute to NVIDIA GPUs in Google Cloud" [3]. Apple's security team said this is the first time its Private Cloud Compute privacy commitments operate on third-party infrastructure, using NVIDIA Confidential Computing with NVIDIA GPUs, Intel CPUs with TDX and Google's Titan chip [4].
Apple says the core requirements are unchanged, listing "stateless computation, enforceable guarantees, no privileged runtime access, non-targetability, and verifiable transparency" [4]. It commits to publishing binaries, research tooling and access to live nodes in research mode, and to rooting attestation "in at least two separate roots of trust from independent vendors" [4].
In our assessment, this is the most consequential disclosure of the week for enterprise buyers. Apple's privacy case for cloud AI previously rested on hardware it designed and operated; it now depends on attestation across three vendors' silicon in another company's cloud. The published tooling gives researchers a way to test that claim, but the claim itself is now harder to verify than before.
A more open developer stack
Apple also loosened its developer platform. The Foundation Models framework now supports on-device image input, server-based models and custom skills, alongside third-party options including Claude and Gemini [5]. Developers in the Small Business Program with fewer than 2 million App Store downloads get free cloud API access to Apple Foundation Models through Private Cloud Compute [5]. Xcode 27 integrates coding agents from Anthropic, Google and OpenAI [5].
Read together, these choices suggest that Apple is positioning itself as an integrator of models rather than as a frontier-model developer, competing on device distribution, privacy architecture and developer access more than on raw model capability.
The EU standoff
Siri AI will not launch in the EU on iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, and because Siri AI on watchOS 27 needs a paired iPhone with the feature, EU Apple Watch users will not get it either; Mac and Vision Pro users in the EU will [6]. Apple blames the Digital Markets Act, arguing that it "requires Apple to give any AI system nearly unlimited access to a user's device, as well as the ability to act on that access autonomously" [6]. Apple says it proposed a Trusted System Agent, an intermediary to let other assistants access the same capabilities as Siri AI, and a plan to launch while rolling it out over 18 months, but that "the European Commission did not agree to any of Apple's proposals" [6]. Craig Federighi said this means "we do not currently have a timeline for Siri AI's availability on iOS and iPadOS in the EU" [6].
The Commission disputes that account. Spokesperson Thomas Regnier said on 9 June that Apple "was simply unable to develop interoperability solutions that meet essential EU privacy and security standards" and had instead "simply made a request to the European Commission to be exempted from their interoperability obligations", which he called "not an option" [8]. The two sides therefore describe the 18-month plan differently: Apple as a phased compliance offer, the Commission as an exemption request.
The dispute stems from iOS and iPadOS being designated gatekeeper services under the DMA, which macOS is not, as heise noted [7]. It also repeats a pattern: Apple Intelligence arrived in the EU in spring 2025 rather than autumn 2024 [7]. Siri AI is also unavailable in China while Apple works through regulatory requirements [2].
What to watch
Three questions will determine how this platform lands: whether outside researchers can verify the Google Cloud deployment of Private Cloud Compute, whether third-party models in the Foundation Models framework get system access comparable to Apple's own, and whether Apple and the Commission find a compliance route before the autumn release. The last is the one with no stated timeline from either side, and it is now a test of how the DMA's interoperability rules apply to AI agents rather than to apps or connected devices.
Sources
[1] Apple Intelligence brings powerful AI capabilities into everyday experiences — Apple Newsroom, 8 Jun 2026
[2] Apple introduces Siri AI, a profoundly more capable and personal assistant — Apple Newsroom, 8 Jun 2026
[3] Introducing the Third Generation of Apple's Foundation Models — Apple Machine Learning Research, 8 Jun 2026
[4] Expanding Private Cloud Compute — Apple Security Research, 8 Jun 2026
[5] Apple aids app development with new intelligence frameworks and advanced tools — Apple Newsroom, 8 Jun 2026
[6] Due to DMA, Siri AI delayed in EU for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 — Apple Newsroom, 8 Jun 2026
[7] Due to DMA competition rules: No AI Siri for EU iPhones — heise online, 8 Jun 2026
[8] EU Says Decision Not to Launch Siri AI in Europe Is Apple's Alone — MacRumors, 9 Jun 2026
[9] Apple's new Foundation Models explained: on-device AI, cloud AI, and everything in between — 9to5Mac, 11 Jun 2026