Alphabet up 5.5% in premarket trade after report Apple is in talks to license Gemini for iPhones

Alphabet shares rose 5.5% in early premarket trade on Monday, following a report that tech giant Apple is in talks to license Gemini for future iPhones.

Gemini is Google’s suite of generative AI tools, ranging from chatbots to coding assistants.

According to a Bloomberg report, Apple is in talks with Alphabet-owned Google to let the iPhone maker license and build its Gemini artificial intelligence engine into the iPhone.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said that the two tech giants are “in active negotiations” for Gemini to power certain new features due to be released to the iPhone software later this year.

Alphabet’s Class A shares were 5.52% higher in premarket trade at 8.11 a.m. ET, while its Class C shares were up 5.39%. Apple shares were trading around 1.38% higher.

Apple could launch iOS 18 — its latest operating system for the iPhone — at its Worldwide Developer’s Conference in June.

The tech titan also recently held discussions with OpenAI and has considered using its model, according to the sources cited by Bloomberg.

However, the report said, “the two parties haven’t decided the terms or branding of an AI agreement or finalized how it would be implemented.”

CNBC could not independently verify the Bloomberg report. Apple declined to comment and Alphabet did not immediately respond when contacted by CNBC.

— CNBC’s Katrina Bishop contributed to this report.