Apple is 'open to' acquisitions to boost its AI roadmap

Apple leadership discussed results and updates today in its third-quarter conference call, including some statements about its AI endeavors. As reported by CNBC, CEO Tim Cook said that the company is "significantly growing out investments" in artificial intelligence, which shouldn't be much of a surprise for any players in the tech space. However, Cook did acknowledge that an acquisition to boost its work in AI wasn't out of the question. "We’re open to M&A that accelerates our roadmap," he said.

Cook said that Apple is "not stuck on a certain size company" as a possible target for an AI-related purchase. He noted that Apple has acquired "about" seven businesses so far this year across multiple disciplines but that none were "huge in terms of dollar amount."

The company also has been pretty quiet on its promised plans to overhaul the Siri voice assistant with more AI features. The news is still sparse on that subject; according to Reuters, Cook simply stated that the team is "making good progress on a personalized Siri." Despite hopes that Siri improvements would be unveiled at WWDC 2025, the latest projections are that the AI-powered update to that service might not be ready until spring 2026.

Apple did announce a few Apple Intelligence iterations at WWDC, but the general consensus is that the company's AI efforts have been flagging behind other big tech businesses. That has led to speculation that it may look externally to improve its standing in the race to build the best AI features. Most recently, some execs within Apple have allegedly been eyeing up Perplexity as a potential acquisition.

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