Apple opens manufacturing academy in Detroit as Trump ramps up pressure to invest in U.S.
The Apple Manufacturing Academy, which is being administered by Michigan State University, will offer workshops on manufacturing and artificial intelligence to small and medium-sized businesses when it opens in August, Apple said on Tuesday. The company said that it would "train the next generation of U.S. manufacturers" and that Apple engineers would participate in the workshops.
Apple is one of the most admired hardware companies in the world, manufacturing tens of millions of complicated devices each year across a global supply chain.
"With this new programming, we're thrilled to help even more businesses implement smart manufacturing so they can unlock amazing opportunities for their companies and our country," Sabih Khan, Apple's newly named chief operating officer, said in the statement.
The announcement is part of a public effort by Apple to highlight its U.S. operations and investments to appease Trump, who has called on the company to move iPhone production to the U.S. while he implements tariffs that will likely raise Apple's costs.
Apple first promised to open the Apple Manufacturing Academy in February, when it announced plans to spend more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next five years, investing in products, programs and companies. Apple also said it would assemble AI servers in Houston and buy chips from a TSMC factory based in Arizona.
While Trump hailed Apple's plans in February, his administration has continued to try and strong-arm the company into assembling iPhones in the U.S., which experts say would be cost prohibitive and take a very long time. In May, Trump said he had a "little problem" with CEO Tim Cook, who had said that Apple expanded production to India to avoid Chinese tariffs.
"I said to him, 'my friend, I treated you very good. You're coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you're building all over India.' I don't want you building in India," Trump said.
Apple runs a similar program focusing on software development, instead of manufacturing. Apple has 18 developer academies around the world, according to its website, notably in countries where the iPhone maker wants to forge a working relationship with governments, such as Brazil, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. The only developer academy in the U.S. is also based in Detroit, in partnership with Michigan State, which said this spring that it has about 200 students annually.
Apple said that it would provide consulting services to small businesses through the program, and that the manufacturing academy would also offer some courses virtually later this year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Big Tech may be breaking the bank for AI, but investors love it
By Aditya Soni and Deborah Mary Sophia (Reuters) -Big Tech is spending more than ever on artificial intelligence - but the returns are rising too, and investors are buying in. AI played a bigger role in driving demand across internet search, digital advertising and cloud computing in the April-June quarter, powering revenue growth at technology giants Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet. Betting that momentum will sustain, Microsoft and Alphabet decided to ramp up spending to ease capacity shortages that have limited their ability to meet soaring AI services demand, even after several quarters of multi-billion-dollar outlays. The results offer the clearest sign yet that AI is emerging as a primary growth engine, although the monetization journey is still in its early days, investors and analysts said. The upbeat commentary also bodes well for the largest U.S. cloud provider, which will report earnings on Thursday after markets close, and underscores how surging demand for the new technology is shielding the tech giants from tariff-driven economic uncertainty hobbling other sectors. "As companies like Alphabet and Meta race to deliver on the promise of AI, capital expenditures are shockingly high and will remain elevated for the foreseeable future," said Debra Aho Williamson, founder and chief analyst at Sonata Insights. But if their core businesses remain strong, "it will buy them more time with investors and provide confidence that the billions being spent on infrastructure, talent and other tech-related expenses will be worthwhile," she added. Microsoft shares rose about 9% in premarket trading on Thursday, putting the Windows maker on track to cross $4 trillion in market value - a milestone only chip giant Nvidia has reached so far. Meta was up even more, rising 11.5% and on course to add nearly $200 billion to its market value of $1.75 trillion. Amazon gained over 3%. All the companies have faced intense scrutiny from investors over their ballooning capital expenditures, which were expected to total $330 billion this year before the latest earnings. And until a few days ago, the Magnificent Seven stocks were also trailing the S&P 500 in year-to-date performance. SILENCING DOUBTS Microsoft said on Wednesday it would spend a record $30 billion in the current quarter, after better-than-expected sales and an above-estimate forecast for its Azure cloud computing business showcased the growing returns on its massive AI bets. The prediction puts Microsoft on track to potentially outspend its rivals over the next year. It came after Google-parent Alphabet beat revenue expectations and raised its spending forecast by $10 billion to $85 billion for the year. Microsoft also disclosed for the first time the dollar figure for Azure sales and the number of users for its Copilot AI tools, whose adoption has long been a concern for investors. It said Azure generated more than $75 billion in sales in its last fiscal year, while Copilot tools had over 100 million users. Overall, around 800 million customers use AI tools peppered across Microsoft's sprawling software empire. "It's the kind of result that quickly silences any doubts about cloud or AI demand," said Josh Gilbert, market analyst at eToro. "Microsoft is more than justifying its spending." Other AI companies have also attracted a clutch of users. Alphabet said last week its Gemini AI assistant app has more than 450 million monthly active users. OpenAI's ChatGPT, the application credited with kicking off the generative AI frenzy, has around 500 million weekly active users. Meta, meanwhile, raised the bottom end of its annual capital expenditure forecast by $2 billion, to a range of between $66 billion and $72 billion. It also said that costs driven by its efforts to catch up in Silicon Valley's intensifying AI race would push 2026 expense growth rate above 2025's pace. Better-than-expected sales growth in the April-June period and an above-estimate revenue forecast for the current quarter, however, assured investors that strength in the social media giant's core advertising business can support the massive outlays. "The big boys are back," said Brian Mulberry, portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management, which holds shares in all three major U.S. cloud providers. "This simply proves the Magnificent Seven is still magnificent at this moment in time." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Qualcomm shares slide as Apple modem shift, tariffs raise growth concerns
(Reuters) -Qualcomm shares fell nearly 5% before the bell on Thursday as the looming loss of Apple as its biggest modem customer outweighed its upbeat quarterly forecast. The San Diego-based chip supplier warned investors that Apple's move to depend on in-house modems, starting with the February launch of the iPhone 16e, would hit future chip revenue. Qualcomm has intensified its focus on sectors such as data centers and personal computers. Adding to the pressure, U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed tariff threats on semiconductors have emerged as a risk, potentially disrupting supply chains and hurting Qualcomm's handset revenue, analysts said. While smartphones and semiconductor chips have so far been exempt from these levies, Trump recently warned he would "soon announce tariffs on semiconductors," raising concerns of sector-specific duties. CFO Akash Palkhiwala told Reuters that the company hasn't seen early chip orders yet, suggesting customers aren't rushing to beat possible tariffs. "Tariffs could trim mid-single digits off handset revenue, but Chinese OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) still view (Qualcomm's mobile phone chip) Snapdragon as essential for global 5G and AI-on-device marketing," said Michael Ashley Schulman, CIO at Running Point Capital. Qualcomm, the world's largest supplier of modem chips and seen as a bellwether for smartphones, said chip sales to non-Apple customers have risen more than 15% this fiscal year, driven by premium Android launches. "We see durable share at Samsung and an extended collaboration with Xiaomi as key support in the handset segment as Apple chipset revenue comes out of the model," TD Cowen analysts said. Qualcomm is also expanding in augmented reality. CEO Cristiano Amon said the company now supports 19 augmented reality designs including META's Ray-Ban smart glasses and expects that number to grow. The company's 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio is 13.36, trailing Nvidia's 34.91, Intel's 47.14 and Advanced Micro Devices 35.33, according to data compiled by LSEG. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EBay Gains as Resilient Consumers Fuel Strong Sales Forecast
(Bloomberg) -- EBay Inc. shares jumped in early trading after the company projected sales that topped analysts' estimates, suggesting optimism for continued consumer resilience at a time of shifting US tariff proposals. The World's Data Center Capital Has Residents Surrounded An Abandoned Art-Deco Landmark in Buffalo Awaits Revival Budapest's Most Historic Site Gets a Controversial Rebuild San Francisco in Talks With Vanderbilt for Downtown Campus We Should All Be Biking Along the Beach Revenue will be $2.69 billion to $2.74 billion in the period ending in September, the company said Wednesday in a statement. Profit, excluding some items, will be $1.29 to $1.34 a share. Analysts, on average, estimated sales of $2.65 billion and per-share earnings of $1.31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Investors have been seeking clues about how consumers are reacting to President Donald Trump's trade war, which is expected to fuel inflation. EBay has seen the sale of used and refurbished goods grow faster than other categories with shoppers eager to save money. Purchasing power from US consumers grew through various product categories, helping offset softer demand in European markets, including the UK and Germany, Chief Executive Officer Jamie Iannone said in an interview. Chinese sellers affected by the US closing the de minimis tariff loophole, which exempts low-value shipments from import duties, successfully pivoted to other markets in Europe, he said. 'We're not immune to tariffs, but our platform is more resilient,' he said. The shares rose 13% in premarket trading on Thursday after closing at $77.56 in New York. The stock has increased 25% this year, compared with a 8.2% gain in the S&P 500. Second-quarter profit, excluding some items, was $1.37 a share. Revenue increased 6% to $2.73 billion. Analysts, on average, estimated $1.30 per share on sales of $2.64 billion. Gross merchandise volume, the value of all goods sold on eBay, rose 6% to $19.5 billion during the second quarter, topping the average estimate of $18.9 billion. The company said it had 134 million active buyers as of June 30, in line with estimates. (Updates with premarket shares.) Russia Builds a New Web Around Kremlin's Handpicked Super App Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan Everyone Loves to Hate Wind Power. Scotland Found a Way to Make It Pay Off Cage-Free Eggs Are Booming in the US, Despite Cost and Trump's Efforts ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
