Tim Cook says Apple is open to M&A on the AI front

Apple CEO Tim Cook signaled to investors the institution is inactive unfastened to acquisitions and partnerships to determination things guardant connected the AI front.

The comments were made this week during the company’s Q4 2025 net call. The exec besides offered a little update astir Apple’s next-generation, AI-powered Siri, saying the work was inactive connected way to motorboat successful 2026.

“We’re making bully advancement connected it, and arsenic we’ve shared, we expect to merchandise it adjacent year,” Cook said during his opening remarks.

One expert connected the telephone besides asked Cook if Apple was inactive pursuing a three-pronged attack erstwhile it came to the improvement of its personalized AI — meaning a operation of in-house Apple instauration models, partnerships with third-party LLM providers, and acquisitions.

Cook responded that Apple was inactive unfastened to the latter, noting the institution continually surveils the marketplace connected M&A and is “open to pursuing M&A if we deliberation that it volition beforehand our roadmap.”

In a pre-earnings interrogation with CNBC, Cook noted that Apple was preparing to denote much AI partnerships similar the 1 it has with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence.

“Our volition is to integrate with much radical implicit time,” Cook told the outlet.

On the net call, Cook besides talked astir however Apple creates instauration models, ships them connected devices, and uses them successful Private Cloud Compute, its unreality quality strategy designed specifically for backstage AI processing.

Cook shared aboriginal successful the telephone that Apple is already utilizing its Private Cloud Compute exertion for a fig of Siri queries and is continuing to physique retired that infrastructure.

“In fact, the manufacturing works that makes the servers utilized for Apple Intelligence conscionable started manufacturing successful Houston a fewer weeks ago, and we’ve got a ramp planned determination for usage successful our information centers. And, you know, it’s robust,” helium said.

Cook additionally suggested that AI was a origin successful consumers’ decision-making process erstwhile it comes to selecting a caller smartphone.

“I would accidental that Apple Intelligence is simply a factor, and we’re precise bullish connected it becoming a greater factor,” helium said.