(Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
If the hundred-million-dollar AI investments at Microsoft, Google, and Amazon—and NFL-level salaries for AI talent—weren’t enough to confirm the big tech AI race is on, Apple’s CEO just addressed any remaining doubt.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told employees at an all-hands meeting that the AI revolution is "as big or bigger" than the internet, smartphones, cloud computing, and apps. According to Bloomberg's Power On newsletter, Cook said, "Apple must do this," adding that this is "ours to grab.” He expressed hopes that, though Apple has been relatively late in rolling out AI tools—Apple Intelligence was only unveiled in 2024—it could still dominate its rivals.
“We’ve rarely been first,” the CEO told staff. “There was a PC before the Mac; there was a smartphone before the iPhone; there were many tablets before the iPad; there was an MP3 player before iPod.”
But Cook argued that Apple invented the “modern” versions of those products, adding: “This is how I feel about AI.” He also discussed practical steps Apple is taking to make these plans a reality. Cook said Apple is investing in AI in a “big way,” and that 40% of the 12,000 employees hired last year are set to work on research and development.
Bloomberg reported earlier this week that Apple is working on a new cloud-computing chip, code-named Baltra, to power new AI features. Meanwhile, Cook told CNBC earlier this week that the company is open to acquiring companies to help it get ahead in the AI race.
Dramatic ultimatums to staff about AI pivots are increasingly common among Apple’s competitors. Former Google CEO Sergey Brin, who recently returned to the company, told employees that 60-hour workweeks, mostly in the office, would be expected to win the AI race.
Allegations about boiler-room-level pressure are becoming increasingly common across big-name AI firms. Three weeks after leaving his role at OpenAI, former engineer Calvin French-Owen recently went public about widespread burnout at the company. He described a high-pressure, secretive environment so intense that leadership recently gave the entire company a week to recharge, according to Wired.