Artificial Intelligence · Profile from AI Research Companion
Apple
The world's most valuable consumer-hardware company, owner of the iPhone and of the ~2.35bn-device installed base (company, January 2025) through which most people in rich countries reach AI, which bought Siri in 2010, let its assistant stall for a decade, and then spent 2024–26 visibly behind in generative AI. Apple announced "Apple Intelligence" in June 2024 with a privacy-first design (small models on the device, larger ones on its own Private Cloud Compute servers) and a ChatGPT hand-off; it shipped writing tools and notification summaries that misfired in public (the BBC complaint, December 2024), delayed the personalised Siri it had advertised (March 2025), agreed to pay $250m to settle the resulting false-advertising class action (May 2026; preliminary approval July 2026, reported), lost much of its foundation-model team to Meta, and in January 2026 agreed to base its next-generation models on Google's Gemini (reported ~$1bn a year). A rebuilt "Siri AI" shipped with iOS 27 in September 2026 (reported), the same month John Ternus succeeded Tim Cook as CEO. In China, where foreign models are not allowed, Apple Intelligence runs on Alibaba's Qwen (with Baidu), approved in July 2026 and entering testing in October 2026 (reported). This profile covers Apple's AI strategy, not its whole history.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1976, Cupertino, California, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne
- Headquarters
- Cupertino, California
- Ownership / structure
- Public (Nasdaq: AAPL); market value passed ~$4tn in late October 2025 (reported)
- Leadership (2026)
- John Ternus (CEO from 1 September 2026); Tim Cook (executive chairman from 1 September 2026; CEO August 2011–August 2026); Craig Federighi (SVP software engineering, owner of Siri and Apple's AI models from 2025); Amar Subramanya (VP of AI, from December 2025, ex-Microsoft and Google, reports to Federighi); Mike Rockwell (runs Siri, from March 2025); Johny Srouji (chief hardware officer, from September 2026); Kevan Parekh (CFO)
- AI products
- Siri (2011); Apple Neural Engine in A-series and M-series chips (2017–); Core ML (2017); Apple Intelligence (writing tools, notification summaries, Image Playground, Genmoji, Clean Up, visual intelligence, live translation; October 2024–); Private Cloud Compute (2024); ChatGPT integration in Siri (December 2024); Foundation Models framework for developers (WWDC 2025); Siri AI and a standalone Siri app on Gemini-based models (iOS 27, September 2026, reported)
- Scale
- ~2.35bn active devices (company, January 2025); fiscal 2025 revenue ~$416bn (company, verify); fiscal Q3 2026 (to 27 June 2026) revenue $109.4bn (+16%), iPhone $54.3bn, Services $30.7bn (company, reported); Apple Intelligence available only on iPhone 15 Pro and later, so the eligible base was a minority of iPhones in 2024–25 (verify share)
- Capital and spending
- Fiscal 2024 R&D ~$31bn (company, verify); capital spending ~$9–13bn a year in 2024–25, a fraction of the hyperscalers' (company, verify); $500bn US investment pledge over four years including a Houston AI-server factory (24 February 2025, company)
- Key partnerships
- OpenAI (ChatGPT in Siri, announced June 2024, no cash paid either way, reported); Google (default search payments ~$20bn in 2022, trial evidence; Gemini models for Apple Foundation Models, 12 January 2026, reported ~$1bn a year); Alibaba and Baidu (Apple Intelligence in China, 2025–26); Google Cloud TPUs (used to train Apple's 2024 models, Apple paper)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- The Siri acquisition and the assistant that stalled (2010); the Giannandrea hire and the privacy-first ML bet (2018); Apple Intelligence and the ChatGPT integration (2024); notification summaries and the BBC complaint (2025); the Siri delay, leadership shake-up and false-advertising suits (2025); Apple Intelligence in China with Alibaba (2025–26); the talent exodus and the Foundation Models framework (2025); the Gemini deal for Siri (2026); WWDC 2026, Siri AI in iOS 27 and the CEO handover (2026)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2010
Siri Acquisition and the Assistant That Stalled
Acquisition / launch
2018
Giannandrea Hire and the Privacy First ML Bet
Restructuring / strategy (executive hire and organisation)
2024
Apple Intelligence Launch and the ChatGPT Integration
Launch / partnership
2025
Apple Intelligence China and the Alibaba Partnership
Partnership / regulatory approval
2025
Notification Summaries and the BBC Complaint
Launch failure / product pause
2025
Siri Delay Leadership Shakeup and False Advertising Suits
Restructuring / lawsuit and settlement
2025
Talent Exodus and the Foundation Models Framework
Talent loss / developer launch
2026
Gemini Deal for Siri
Partnership (model licence)
2026
WWDC Siri AI iOS 27 and the CEO Handover
Launch / leadership change