Apple 'Open' to Acquisition That Accelerates AI Roadmap

Apple is "open" to an acquisition that would accelerate its AI roadmap, Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC today. Cook said that Apple sees AI as one of the "most profound technologies of our lifetime," and that the company is "significantly growing" its AI investments.

perplexity ai mac
"We're embedding it across our devices, across our platforms and across the company," Cook said. Apple has already purchased seven companies in 2025. "We're open to M&A that accelerates our roadmap," Cook added.

Apple has been losing key members of its AI team to Meta in recent weeks, and the company is already far behind competitors in AI development.

There have been rumors that Apple is considering working with Anthropic or OpenAI to develop an LLM version of Siri rather than using its own AI technology, but Apple hasn't moved forward with a partnership as of yet.

Many of the high profile AI companies would not be feasible for Apple to purchase, but the company has considered purchasing Perplexity AI. Perplexity is valued at $18 billion, so if Apple did acquire the company, it would mark Apple's largest acquisition to date.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Dark Blue and Orange

iPhone 17 Release Date, Pre-Orders, and What to Expect

Thursday August 28, 2025 4:08 am PDT by
An iPhone 17 announcement is a dead cert for September 2025 – Apple has already sent out invites for an "Awe dropping" event on Tuesday, September 9 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The timing follows Apple's trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall. At the event, Apple is expected to unveil its new-generation iPhone 17, an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17...
xiaomi apple ad india

Apple and Samsung Push Back Against Xiaomi's Bold India Ads

Friday August 29, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple and Samsung have reportedly issued cease-and-desist notices to Xiaomi in India for an ad campaign that directly compares the rivals' devices to Xiaomi's products. The two companies have threatened the Chinese vendor with legal action, calling the ads "disparaging." Ads have appeared in local print media and on social media that take pot shots at the competitors' premium offerings. One...
iPhone 17 Pro Iridescent Feature 2

iPhone 17 Pro Clear Case Leak Reveals Three Key Changes

Sunday August 31, 2025 1:26 pm PDT by
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series on Tuesday, September 9, and last-minute rumors about the devices continue to surface. The latest info comes from a leaker known as Majin Bu, who has shared alleged images of Apple's Clear Case for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, or at least replicas. Image Credit: @MajinBuOfficial The images show three alleged changes compared to Apple's iP...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 17's 'Awe Dropping' Accessories

Friday August 29, 2025 8:12 am PDT by
Following the announcement of Apple's upcoming "Awe dropping" event, on this week's episode of The MacRumors Show we talk through all of the new accessories rumored to debut alongside the iPhone 17 lineup. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos We take a closer look at Apple's invite for "Awe dropping;" the design could hint at the iPhone 17's new thermal system with ...

Top Rated Comments

sniffies Avatar
5 weeks ago
Before acquiring anything, how about teaching iCloud Mail how to auto-sync notification badges between iOS and macOS?

Or does that require quantum computing?
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cameltahoe Avatar
5 weeks ago
There's no rush. Record sales prove customers aren't buying the AI hype train. The media and finance guys tell lies about AI popularity just to bump up their stocks. Go walk about the street and ask regular people about AI and they look at you like you are weird.

Get it right instead of shoehorning it in quickly.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Flojomojo Avatar
5 weeks ago
I'm no expert and I haven't tried them all, but Perplexity has been more useful to me than Copilot or ChatGPT because it tries to prioritize accuracy, and it always shows its work. Like the others, it sometimes makes mistakes, but it doesn't lie confidently or hallucinate in my experience. I've paid for the $20/month plan and have been using it more than Google searches lately.

It could be a good fit for the Apple ecosystem if they don't screw it up.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wx_Man Avatar
5 weeks ago

They're approaching 14 years with Siri. How much more time do they need?

Apple could purchase Perplexity with last quarter's profit, and have a few billion in change left over. If Cook truly sees AI as one of the "most profound technologies of our lifetime", why isn't his company leading it?
It’s because all LLMs are made and continuously trained on scraped data from every known source. None of the AI companies, not OpenAI, not Anthropic, not Meta, not Google, not DeepSeek, not Musk-Grok, etc give a rip for privacy or safety. The very reason all these LLMs exist is totally antithetical to at least what Apple has been preaching and engineering for decades. It is impossible to make a LLM that is competent with ethical, private and safe means. To do so is to limit the LLMs evolution and potential competency. And even then every LLM out there is eventually an unsafe, gaslighting, hallucinating fabulist when it gets beyond a certain amount of tokens. Apple’s dilemma vis a vis AI is not that they can’t competently engineer an LLM in-house or even outright buy Perplexity or even Anthropic. It’s that by doing either Apple instantly stops being Apple. It can no longer claim to be the paragon of safe, private and ethical computing.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GrassShark Avatar
5 weeks ago
Doesn't Perplexity rely on models from other companies? Even setting aside their terrible reputation as a company, how would buying them even be helpful to Apple?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sippincider Avatar
5 weeks ago

Get it right instead of shoehorning it in quickly.
They're approaching 14 years with Siri. How much more time do they need?

Apple could purchase Perplexity with last quarter's profit, and have a few billion in change left over. If Cook truly sees AI as one of the "most profound technologies of our lifetime", why isn't his company leading it?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)