CEO Tim Cook praised DeepSeek’s AI models for their “innovation that drives efficiency” during Apple’s most recent earnings call. The CEO made his statements during analyst inquiries about Apple’s AI strategy and its effect on margins through AI model provider relationships.
Cook explained that Apple combines custom silicon chip processing on devices with third-party AI models that run in the cloud. The current AI partnership for Apple involves OpenAI, which integrates ChatGPT into iPhones for complex queries, but Cook maintained Apple’s potential future collaborations with Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude. During the presentation, he failed to discuss model integration with DeepSeek.
DeepSeek receives Apple’s support at a time when the company faces ongoing debates. OpenAI charged DeepSeek with distillation model training violations of its usage policies through the use of OpenAI technology. Technical analysts doubt DeepSeek’s AI models were trained efficiently because they found the training costs to be unusually high. DeepSeek provides its AI services at prices that are substantially lower than American competitors, creating doubts about its competitive position.
During the investor meeting, Cook received questions about how Apple Intelligence was affecting their operations. The staged implementation of AI technology in Apple products has not resulted in increased iPhone sales during the last financial quarter, which demonstrated revenue decline when compared to the previous year. The performance of Apple Intelligence appears to have improved in markets where it has been launched, according to Cook’s assessment.
Apple encountered several AI-related difficulties during its operations. The company paused its AI news summary service due to inaccurate headlines that included false information about a prominent murder case. The deliberate innovation approach demonstrated by Apple through Cook’s management shows the company’s dedication to methodical development instead of rushing new AI features to market.
