Apple CEO Tim Cook holds first-ever wide townhall: What makes it big and important |
Apple CEO Tim Cook broke tradition Friday with a rare company-wide townhall at the Steve Jobs Theater, delivering an hour-long pep talk that positioned artificial intelligence as the company’s next major frontier. The all-hands meeting followed Apple’s blockbuster earnings report showing nearly 10% sales growth.“Apple must do this. Apple will do this. This is sort of ours to grab,” Cook told employees about the AI revolution, calling it “as big or bigger” than the internet, smartphones, and cloud computing combined. The CEO acknowledged Apple’s late entry into AI but drew parallels to the company’s history of perfecting existing technologies rather than pioneering them.Cook’s optimism comes despite Apple Intelligence’s lukewarm reception compared to competitors like ChatGPT and Google’s offerings. The company is betting big on a complete Siri overhaul, moving away from a hybrid architecture to an entirely new system expected as early as spring 2026, according to people familiar with the meeting who spoke to Bloomberg.
Cook rallies employees around AI strategy while revealing “amazing” product pipeline at rare company-wide meeting
The meeting revealed significant internal changes, with Vision Pro creator Mike Rockwell now leading Siri development alongside his headset software team. Craig Federighi, Apple’s software chief, admitted the original Siri upgrade approach “wasn’t going to get us to Apple quality.”Beyond AI, Cook teased an “amazing” product pipeline without specifics, though Bloomberg has previously reported plans for a foldable iPhone, smart home devices, and new headset products. The CEO also outlined retail expansion into emerging markets, particularly India, UAE, China, and Saudi Arabia.Cook hired 12,000 workers in the past year, with 40% joining research and development roles. The company is also developing specialised AI chips code-named Baltra and establishing a new AI server facility in Houston.The townhall underscored Apple’s strategic pivot toward AI integration across all operations, with Cook urging employees to embrace AI tools faster or risk being “left behind” in an increasingly competitive landscape.
