Name: Apple at 50 is trying to prove it can win the AI era
Uploaded: 2026-04-02T02:52:52.748Z
Duration: 2 min 18 s
Description: CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos reports on how Apple missed the first wave of generative AI and is now leaning on a strategy former insiders say has defined the company for decades.

CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos reports on how Apple missed the first wave of generative AI and is now leaning on a strategy former insiders say has defined the company for decades.

San Francisco

Apple, founded 50 years ago by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, has grown into a nearly $4 trillion company but now faces questions from investors about its recent innovations, especially in artificial intelligence. The company is addressing these concerns by overhauling Siri with the help of AI models, including those developed by Google, and is expected to preview updates at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

Unlike competitors investing heavily in AI infrastructure, Apple is leveraging its control over hardware and software, as well as partnerships, to integrate AI features into its devices. Upcoming updates may allow Siri to access more on-device data and integrate with third-party chatbots, with a more advanced version of Siri anticipated to launch alongside iOS 27 and new iPhones in September.

Apple at 50 is trying to prove it can win the AI era

50 years ago, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple. It grew into one of the biggest companies in the world, currently worth nearly $4 trillion. But lately, investors have been asking, what have you done for me lately? Mackenzie Sagalos is looking at the challenges Apple is facing right now. Mack. So with AI, they haven't done much for me lately, Mike. And that's the problem that Tim Cook is looking to solve this year. Apple has a track record of not being first to market, but using that late mover status to its advantage. They're overhauling Siri with the help of AI models that Google has spent years perfecting. And this is what Apple does. It partners, learns the ropes, and builds its own stack, usually winning over the consumer in the end. It did this with smartphones and MacBooks, even the tech inside, like chips. Right now, AI is still a cloud business. The models behind ChatGBT and Cloud are too big to run well on a phone, but they're shrinking fast. And when that intelligence moves onto the device, the company that controls the hardware, operating system, and customer relationship has the advantage. That's Apple. So while Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet spend in the range of $100 to $200 billion in CapEx this year alone, Apple's betting it doesn't need to outspend everyone, even if it owns the device that AI ultimately runs on. They're spending $14 billion in CapEx this year against more than $145 billion in liquid assets. Guys? So we shouldn't expect much from the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, because a lot of people had said that we should get some sort of update on their AI product, but we're saying basically here that Apple has been benefiting from not joining the fray in terms of the fight over an AI product. But what they're doing is that they're now capitalizing on what Gemini has built. So WWDC in June is when we might start to see this first reboot of Siri get an indication of what that would look like. iOS 27 would actually launch in September along with the new lineup of phones. And what the reporting indicates is that Siri would be power, well, we know that they're working with Gemini to reboot what Siri's capable of, really maximizing what they can access and tap from on-screen contacts, what's on your phone. And then separate to that, there's reporting to indicate that they would open up Siri to other chatbots. So if you're a cloud user, you'd be able to dock that on your phone. But it'll be a wave of different updates, potentially Siri offering more of a chatbot-like experience as well.

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Breakdown