Apple’s hardware is still the primary way consumers access the mobile web. Just as Google pays Apple for Google Search to be the default in Safari, which helped assert Google’s dominance in Search, licensing Gemini allows Apple to shortcut years of R&D.

Last I had read this was struck down in the courts.

Apple will need to be able to get integration into Microsoft products to really capture the assistant space. I dont see people having one assistant for work and one for personal use so the assistant is going to have to be able to do both.