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

Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors that the company is still open to acquisitions and partnerships to make progress on the AI ​​front.

The comments were made this week during the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call. The executive also gave a brief update on Apple’s next-generation, AI-powered Siri, saying the service is still on track to launch in 2026.

“We’re making good progress on it and as we’ve shared, we expect to release it next year,” Cook said during his opening remarks.

An analyst on the call also asked Cook whether Apple was still taking a three-pronged approach when it came to developing its personalized AI – that is, a combination of internal Apple core models, partnerships with third-party LLM providers and acquisitions.

Cook responded that Apple is still open to the latter, noting that the company continually monitors the M&A market and is “open to pursuing M&A transactions if we believe it will advance our roadmap.”

In one pre-win interview with CNBCCook noted that Apple was preparing to announce more AI partnerships, such as the one with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence.

“Our intention is to integrate with more people over time,” Cook told the outlet.

During the earnings call, Cook also talked about how Apple makes base models, ships them on devices and uses them Private cloud computerthe cloud intelligence system specifically designed for private AI processing.

Cook said later in the call that Apple is already using its Private Cloud Compute technology for some Siri queries and is continuing to build out that infrastructure.

“In fact, the factory that makes the servers used for Apple Intelligence just started production in Houston a few weeks ago, and we have a platform planned there for use in our data centers. And you know, it’s robust,” he said.

Cook additionally suggested that AI was a factor in consumers’ decision-making process when it comes to selecting a new smartphone.

“I would say Apple Intelligence is a factor, and we’re very optimistic that it will become a bigger factor,” he said.