Apple CEO Tim Cook signaled to investors that the company remains open to acquisitions and partnerships to move things forward in the AI space.
The comments were made this week during the company’s 2025 Q4 earnings conference. The executive also provided a brief update on Apple’s next-generation AI-powered Siri, saying the service is still on track for a 2026 launch.
“We’re on track and, as we’ve shared, we plan to release it next year,” Cook said in his opening remarks.
One of the analysts on the call also asked Cook if Apple was still pursuing a three-pronged approach to developing personalized AI: an in-house Apple foundation model, partnerships with third-party LLM providers, and a combination of acquisitions.
Cook responded that Apple remains open to the latter, noting that the company continues to monitor the market for M&A and is “open to moving forward with M&A where we think it will advance our roadmap.”
In a pre-earnings interview with CNBC, Cook said Apple is preparing to announce more AI partnerships, like the one it has with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence.
“Our aim is to integrate with more people over time,” Cook told the outlet.
During the earnings call, Cook also talked about how Apple creates foundational models, puts them on devices, and uses them in Private Cloud Compute, a cloud intelligence system designed specifically for private AI processing.
Later in the call, Cook shared that Apple already uses its private cloud computing technology for many Siri queries and continues to build out that infrastructure.
“In fact, the manufacturing plant that makes the servers used for Apple Intelligence just started manufacturing in Houston a few weeks ago, and they’re planning ramps there for use in data centers. And, you know, it’s robust,” he said.
Cook also suggested that AI is a factor in consumers’ decision-making process when choosing a new smartphone.
“I would say Apple Intelligence is a factor. We’re very bullish on it becoming a bigger factor,” he said.
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