CEO Tim Cook says Apple ready to open its wallet to catch up in AI
Apple, in contrast, has leaned on outside data centre providers to handle some of its cloud computing work, and despite a high-profile partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI for certain iPhone features, has tried to grow much of its AI technology in-house, including improvements to its Siri virtual assistant. The results have been rocky, with the company delaying its Siri improvements until next year. During a conference call after Apple's fiscal third-quarter results, analysts noted that Apple has historically not done large deals and asked whether it might take a different approach to pursue its AI ambitions. CEO Cook responded that the company had already acquired seven smaller companies this year and is open to buying larger ones. "We're very open to M&A that accelerates our roadmap. We are not stuck on a certain size company, although the ones that we have acquired thus far this year are small in nature," Cook said. "We basically ask ourselves whether a company can help us accelerate a roadmap, and if they do, then we're interested." Apple has tended to buy smaller firms with highly specialized technical teams to build out specific products. Its largest deal ever was its purchase of Beats Electronics for $3 billion in 2014, followed by a $1 billion deal to buy a modem chip business from Intel. But now Apple is at a unique crossroads for its business. The tens of billions of dollars per year it receives from Google as payment to be the default search engine on iPhones could be undone by U.S. courts in Google's antitrust trial, while startups like Perplexity are in discussions with handset makers to try to dislodge Google with an AI-powered browser that would handle many search functions. Apple executives have said in court they are considering reshaping the firm's Safari browser with AI-powered search functions, and Bloomberg News has reported that Apple executives have discussed buying Perplexity, which Reuters has not independently confirmed. Apple also said on Thursday it plans to spend more on data centres, an area where it typically spends only a few billion dollars per year. Apple is currently using its own chip designs to handle AI requests with privacy controls that are compatible with the privacy features on its devices. Kevan Parekh, Apple's chief financial officer, did not give specific spending targets but said outlays would rise. "It's not going to be exponential growth, but it is going to grow substantially," Parekh said during the conference call. "A lot of that's a function of the investments we're making in AI." Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. US tariff hike to hit Indian exports, may push RBI towards rate cuts
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Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Apple CEO Tells Staff AI Is ‘Ours to Grab' in Hourlong Pep Talk
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, holding a rare all-hands meeting following earnings results, rallied employees around the company's artificial intelligence prospects and an 'amazing' pipeline of products. The executive gathered staff at Apple's on-campus auditorium Friday in Cupertino, California, telling them that the AI revolution is 'as big or bigger' as the internet, smartphones, cloud computing and apps. 'Apple must do this. Apple will do this. This is sort of ours to grab,' Cook told employees, according to people aware of the meeting. 'We will make the investment to do it.' The iPhone maker has been late to AI, debuting Apple Intelligence months after OpenAI, Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Microsoft Corp. and others flooded the market with products like ChatGPT. And when Apple finally released its AI tools, they fell flat. But Cook struck an optimistic tone, noting that Apple is typically late to promising new technologies. 'We've rarely been first,' the executive told staffers. '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 Apple invented the 'modern' versions of those product categories, he said. 'This is how I feel about AI.' An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on the gathering. The hourlong meeting addressed a range of topics, including the retirement of operating chief Jeff Williams, increasing Apple TV viewership and advances in health care with features like the AirPods Pro hearing-aid technology. It also touched on donations and community service by Apple employees, the company's goal to become carbon neutral by 2030, and the impact of regulations. 'The reality is that Big Tech is under a lot of scrutiny around the world,' Cook said. 'We need to continue to push on the intention of the regulation and get them to offer that up, instead of these things that destroy the user experience and user privacy and security.' Cook often holds town hall-style chats when visiting Apple's offices around the world, but companywide meetings from the Steve Jobs Theater at headquarters are unusual. The remarks followed a blockbuster earnings report, with sales growing nearly 10% during the June quarter. That beat Wall Street expectations and eased concerns about iPhone demand and a slowdown in China. Apple still faces myriad challenges, including Trump administration tariffs and a regulatory crackdown on its business practices. The company said Thursday that tariffs would bring a $1.1 billion headwind this quarter, though Apple was upbeat about sales growth. It also said that App Store revenue rose by a percentage in the double digits last quarter, despite efforts in the EU and elsewhere to further restrict that business. Echoing comments he made during the earnings conference call, Cook told employees the company is investing in AI in a 'big way.' He said 12,000 workers were hired in the last year, with 40% of the new hires joining in research and development roles. Apple's chip development efforts, led by executive Johny Srouji, are key to the company's AI strategy, Cook said. Apple is working on a more powerful cloud-computing chip — code-named Baltra — to power artificial intelligence features, Bloomberg News has reported. It's also setting up a new AI server manufacturing facility in Houston. The meeting included Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering, who discussed the future of Apple's Siri voice assistant. The company had planned to roll out a Siri overhaul as part of Apple Intelligence earlier this year, adding the ability to tap into user data to better fulfill requests. It was delayed, spurring management changes for the company's AI work. Federighi explained that the problem was caused by trying to roll out a version of Siri that merged two different systems: one for handling current commands — like setting timers — and another based on large language models, the software behind generative AI. 'We initially wanted to do a hybrid architecture, but we realized that approach wasn't going to get us to Apple quality,' Federighi said. Now, Apple is working on a version of Siri that moves to an entirely new architecture for all of its capabilities. That iteration is slated for as early as spring, Bloomberg News has reported, though Apple executives haven't confirmed a timeline other than a release next year. 'The work we've done on this end-to-end revamp of Siri has given us the results we needed,' the engineering executive told employees. 'This has put us in a position to not just deliver what we announced, but to deliver a much bigger upgrade than we envisioned. There is no project people are taking more seriously.' Federighi cited leadership changes, including putting Vision Pro creator Mike Rockwell and his headset software leadership team in charge of Siri, as a driving force in improving the product. He said Rockwell and his group have 'supercharged' the company's work in the area. In his speech, Cook also pushed employees to move more quickly to weave AI into their work and future products. 'All of us are using AI in a significant way already, and we must use it as a company as well,' Cook said. 'To not do so would be to be left behind, and we can't do that.' Employees should push to deploy AI tools faster, and urge their managers and service and support teams to do the same, he said. Cook also addressed the company's retail strategy, stressing that the current plan is to focus on opening new stores in emerging markets and upping the investment in Apple's online store. The iPhone maker is opening outlets in India, the United Arab Emirates and China this year, and is preparing to add its first location in Saudi Arabia next year. 'We need to be in more countries, and you'll see us go into more emerging markets in particular,' Cook said. That doesn't mean Apple will ignore other places, he said, but a 'disproportionate amount of growth' will be in new areas. The CEO also shared his enthusiasm about upcoming products, though he didn't get specific. 'I have never felt so much excitement and so much energy before as right now,' he said. Bloomberg News has previously reported that Apple plans to launch its first foldable iPhone next year and is also working on a stream of smart home devices. New headset products, smart glasses, a push into robotics and a redesigned iPhone for the two-decade anniversary are also underway. 'The product pipeline, which I can't talk about: It's amazing, guys. It's amazing,' Cook said. 'Some of it you'll see soon, some of it will come later, but there's a lot to see.' More stories like this are available on
Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
US Stock market: S&P 500 suffers biggest daily fall in over 3 months, Nasdaq Composite, Dow Jones crash
Key indexes of US Stock Market are S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite. CBOE Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, climbed to as much as 21.90, its highest since June 23. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads FAQs U.S. stocks slumped on Friday, with the S&P 500 on track for its biggest daily percentage decline in more than three months as new U.S. tariffs on dozens of trading partners and a surprisingly weak jobs report spurred selling pressure. S&P 500 lost 101.60 points, or 1.60 per cent, to end at 6,237.79 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 472.78 points, or 2.24 per cent, to 20,649.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 543.97 points, or 1.23 per cent, to 43, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq recorded their biggest single-day percentage declines since April 21 and all three major indexes were on track for weekly losses. The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, climbed to as much as 21.90, its highest since June weighing on equities was a tumble in shares after the company posted quarterly results but failed to meet lofty expectations for its Amazon Web Services cloud computing unit. Just hours before the tariff deadline on Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing duties on U.S. imports from countries, including Canada, Brazil, India and Taiwan, in his latest round of levies as countries attempted to seek ways to reach better deals. Further denting confidence in the economic picture, data showed U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in July while the prior month's report was revised sharply lower, indicating the labor market may be starting to report significantly pushed up expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its September expectations the Fed will cut rates by at least 25 basis points at its September meeting stood at 80.9%, according to CME's FedWatch Tool, up from 37.7% in the prior data from the Institute for Supply Management showed U.S. manufacturing contracted for a fifth straight month in July and factory employment dropped to the lowest level in five was the biggest drag on the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq and pushed the consumer discretionary index, down nearly 4% as the worst performing of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors. Also reporting earnings was Apple, which fell after it posted a current-quarter revenue forecast well above Wall Street estimates, but CEO Tim Cook warned U.S. tariffs would add $1.1 billion in costs over the briefly extended declines after Trump said he ordered the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika L. McEntarfer, to be fired in the wake of the jobs data. In contrast to the broad declines, Reddit surged after it reported quarterly results that exceeded Street expectations, boosted by an AI-focused advertising strategy and strong user engagement.A1. The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, climbed to as much as 21.90, its highest since June 23.A2. Key indexes of US Stock Market are S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
US Stock market: S&P 500 suffers biggest daily fall in over 3 months, Nasdaq Composite, Dow Jones crash
Key indexes of US Stock Market are S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite. CBOE Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, climbed to as much as 21.90, its highest since June 23. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads FAQs U.S. stocks slumped on Friday, with the S&P 500 on track for its biggest daily percentage decline in more than three months as new U.S. tariffs on dozens of trading partners and a surprisingly weak jobs report spurred selling pressure. S&P 500 lost 101.60 points, or 1.60 per cent, to end at 6,237.79 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 472.78 points, or 2.24 per cent, to 20,649.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 543.97 points, or 1.23 per cent, to 43, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq recorded their biggest single-day percentage declines since April 21 and all three major indexes were on track for weekly losses. The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, climbed to as much as 21.90, its highest since June weighing on equities was a tumble in shares after the company posted quarterly results but failed to meet lofty expectations for its Amazon Web Services cloud computing unit. Just hours before the tariff deadline on Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing duties on U.S. imports from countries, including Canada, Brazil, India and Taiwan, in his latest round of levies as countries attempted to seek ways to reach better deals. Further denting confidence in the economic picture, data showed U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in July while the prior month's report was revised sharply lower, indicating the labor market may be starting to report significantly pushed up expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its September expectations the Fed will cut rates by at least 25 basis points at its September meeting stood at 80.9%, according to CME's FedWatch Tool, up from 37.7% in the prior data from the Institute for Supply Management showed U.S. manufacturing contracted for a fifth straight month in July and factory employment dropped to the lowest level in five was the biggest drag on the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq and pushed the consumer discretionary index, down nearly 4% as the worst performing of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors. Also reporting earnings was Apple, which fell after it posted a current-quarter revenue forecast well above Wall Street estimates, but CEO Tim Cook warned U.S. tariffs would add $1.1 billion in costs over the briefly extended declines after Trump said he ordered the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika L. McEntarfer, to be fired in the wake of the jobs data. In contrast to the broad declines, Reddit surged after it reported quarterly results that exceeded Street expectations, boosted by an AI-focused advertising strategy and strong user engagement.A1. The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, climbed to as much as 21.90, its highest since June 23.A2. Key indexes of US Stock Market are S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite.
