Apple clarifies its position on AI – but can it save its reputation?

It seems fair to say Apple has had a pretty rough time in the AI space. For all the hype around Apple Intelligence back in 2024, most of the promised features (most notably improved Siri) were dead on arrival – with no resurrection in sight over a year later.

The debacle has led to constant rumours of disquiet within the company, with the AI team said to have been given a pretty mean nickname internally. And now, CEO Tim Cook has reportedly held a rare all-hands company meeting to clarify the company's approach going forward.

In what Bloomberg calls an hour-long "pep talk", Cook attempted to rally employees around its AI efforts, telling them "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.”"

Also, seemingly in reference to the eyebrow-raisingly slow rollout of all those Apple Intelligence features, Cook pointed out that Apple has “rarely been first” in product categories, but aims to be the best. That said, the muted response to Vision Pro might suggest this tactic isn't (yet) working when it comes to Apple's foray into new hardware categories.

Head of software engineering Craig Federighi also gave some technical insight into the reasons behind the delay, explaining that Apple initial plan of running the new Siri on a "hybrid" system that half relied on large language models, the company has decided to move to a new architecture in order to achieve "Apple quality".

Perhaps the most notable aspect of the whole thing is the tone. Cook's comments reveal that Apple, despite its faltering start, still sees AI as one of its most important avenues, if not the most important.

And the urgency of that "Apple must do this" might hint at an even more existential imperative for Apple – with its rivals swirling, and top talent jumping ship to the likes of Meta, the AI race is perhaps the biggest threat to Apple's relevance in recent history.