Tim Cook Rallies Staff on AI, Revamped Siri Will Be 'Bigger Upgrade Than Envisioned'

Apple CEO Tim Cook held a rare all-hands meeting at the company's Cupertino headquarters, rallying employees around its artificial intelligence ambitions and teasing an "amazing" product pipeline, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The hourlong gathering followed a blockbuster earnings report that saw double-digit growth for the App Store and eased concerns about iPhone demand and a slowdown in China. The meeting also touched on a range of topics from the retirement of COO Jeff Williams to Apple TV+ viewership and the company's environmental goals.

Cook told staff that the AI revolution is "as big or bigger" than the internet, smartphones, or apps. "Apple must do this. Apple will do this. This is sort of ours to grab," Cook said, according to the report. He acknowledged that Apple is often late to new technologies but that it invents the "modern" versions of those product categories. "We've rarely been first," Cook said. "There was a PC before the Mac; there was a smartphone before the iPhone; there were many tablets before the iPad... This is how I feel about AI."

Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, offered a detailed explanation for the delay of the company's revamped Siri. He said the team initially planned a "hybrid architecture" that merged Siri's existing system with new large language models. "We initially wanted to do a hybrid architecture, but we realized that approach wasn't going to get us to Apple quality," Federighi explained. Apple has now shifted to a new architecture for all of Siri's functions. "The work we've done on this end-to-end revamp of Siri has given us the results we needed," he said. "This has put us in a position to not just deliver what we announced, but to deliver a much bigger upgrade than we envisioned. There is no project people are taking more seriously." The new version is slated for as early as spring, the Bloomberg report notes, though Apple has only confirmed a release sometime next year.


The engineering executive also credited the recent leadership changes, including putting Vision Pro creator Mike Rockwell in charge of Siri, for "supercharging" the company's work. Those advanced Siri features are now expected to roll out in 2026. Cook urged employees to move more quickly to integrate AI into their work and future products. "All of us are using AI in a significant way already, and we must use it as a company as well," Cook said. "To not do so would be to be left behind, and we can't do that."

Addressing the growing regulatory pressure on big tech, Cook said Apple would continue to push back on rules that "destroy the user experience and user privacy and security." The company recently announced it would delay some iOS 26 features in the EU, citing privacy risks from new regulations.

Cook also addressed the company's retail strategy, telling staff that the current focus is on opening new stores in emerging markets while increasing investment in Apple's online store. The iPhone maker is opening new locations in India, the United Arab Emirates, and China this year, and is preparing for its first store in Saudi Arabia next year. He noted that while Apple won't ignore other regions, a "disproportionate amount of growth" will be in these new areas.

The meeting also covered advances in health care, such as the AirPods Pro hearing-aid feature, and the company's goal to become carbon neutral by 2030. Looking further ahead, Cook teased upcoming products without offering specifics. "The product pipeline, which I can't talk about: It's amazing, guys. It's amazing," he said. This comes as Apple is reportedly preparing for what could be a product renaissance, with a foldable iPhone, smart home devices, and smart glasses in development.


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