Tim Cook tells Apple staff: We're not first in AI, but we'll be best

Promises 'amazing' product pipeline

Apple CEO Tim Cook delivered a rare all-hands address at the company's headquarters on Friday, rallying employees around Apple's push into AI and unveiling ambitious plans for product innovation and global expansion.

Speaking for an hour at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino following a strong quarterly earnings report, Cook described AI as a transformative force on par with the internet, smartphones, and cloud computing.

"Apple must do this. Apple will do this. This is sort of ours to grab," Cook said, according to Bloomberg.

Despite Apple being a late entrant in the AI race, Cook expressed a determination to catch up. While rivals like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft have already pushed out generative AI tools, Apple only recently unveiled its "Apple Intelligence" platform, which initially drew lukewarm responses.

Cook defended the company's approach, emphasising Apple's history of arriving late – but dominating – key tech categories.

"We've rarely been first," Cook said. "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 redefined these products, he said.

"This is how I feel about AI."

Cook made clear that Apple is investing in AI "in a big way," revealing that the company hired 12,000 new employees over the past year, 40% of them in research and development roles.

He also signalled Apple's willingness to accelerate AI growth through acquisitions, despite ongoing competition from companies like Meta, which has recently lured away some of Apple's top AI talent.

Central to Apple's AI strategy is chip development. Cook highlighted the efforts of Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies, who is leading the creation of a new AI-focused cloud chip, codenamed Baltra.

The chip will power next-gen features from datacentres, including those being built at a new AI server manufacturing facility in Houston.

On the software side, Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, offered insight into the long-delayed overhaul of Siri.

Initially planned as part of Apple Intelligence, the revamped voice assistant stumbled due to the company's attempt to merge traditional command handling with generative AI capabilities. The result, Federighi admitted, didn't meet "Apple quality."

Apple is now building an entirely new end-to-end system for Siri, expected to debut as early as spring next year.

In addition to AI, Cook touched on Apple's retail ambitions, stating that the company is doubling down on emerging markets. The company is expanding its physical presence this year in India, the UAE, and China, with its first store in Saudi Arabia planned for 2026.

Despite a $1.1 billion headwind from tariffs and ongoing regulatory scrutiny, including new restrictions on the App Store in the EU, Cook struck a confident tone, citing double-digit percentage growth in App Store revenue during the last quarter.

He acknowledged growing global concerns around Big Tech but stressed Apple's commitment to maintaining a strong user experience, privacy, and security.

Cook concluded the meeting with a forward-looking message, teasing a wave of new products without revealing specifics.

Bloomberg has previously reported that Apple is developing a foldable iPhone, new smart home devices, enhanced headsets, smart glasses, robotics initiatives, and a redesigned iPhone to mark the product's 20th anniversary.

"The product pipeline, which I can't talk about: It's amazing, guys. It's amazing," Cook told staff.

"Some of it you'll see soon, some of it will come later, but there's a lot to see."