In August 2025, with Apple Intelligence delayed and Siri falling behind rival assistants, Tim Cook gathered Apple employees for a rare all hands meeting and told them the company had no choice but to win in AI. More than a year later, much of what he promised has shipped. Here is what Cook reportedly said, what Apple has done since, and where Siri and Apple Intelligence stand in October 2026.
What Tim Cook told Apple employees
The meeting took place on August 1, 2025, at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters, the day after the company reported quarterly revenue of about $94 billion, up 10 percent from a year earlier. According to widely circulated reports of the session, Cook framed AI as a shift on the scale of the internet, smartphones, cloud computing and apps, or possibly bigger.
Cook reportedly made three points that stuck:
- Apple has to do this. He told staff the company would succeed in AI and would invest heavily to get there.
- Being late is not fatal. He noted that Apple was not first with the PC, the smartphone, the tablet or the MP3 player, yet it built the versions that defined those categories.
- Use AI at work. He encouraged employees to adopt AI tools in their own jobs so the company would not fall behind.
What Craig Federighi said about Siri
Software chief Craig Federighi reportedly gave the clearest explanation yet of why the smarter Siri slipped. Apple had first tried a hybrid design that bolted a large language model onto the old Siri command system. Federighi said that approach could not reach Apple’s quality bar, so the team moved Siri to an entirely new architecture. He reportedly told staff the rebuild was going well enough that Apple could ship more than it had originally promised. Mike Rockwell, who led Vision Pro development, had already taken over Siri engineering earlier in 2025.
What Apple has done since: a timeline
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| Aug 1, 2025 | Cook and Federighi address staff on AI at an all hands meeting |
| Jan 12, 2026 | Apple and Google announce that the next Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology |
| Apr 20, 2026 | Apple names John Ternus as its next CEO, with Cook becoming executive chairman |
| Jun 8, 2026 | Apple unveils Siri AI and the next generation of Apple Intelligence at WWDC |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Ternus takes over as CEO |
| Sep 9, 2026 | Apple introduces iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone, from $1,999 |
| Sep 14, 2026 | iOS 27 ships and Siri AI starts rolling out in beta in English |
The Google partnership is the biggest strategic change. Apple said its evaluation found Gemini to be the most capable foundation for its next models, while Apple Intelligence keeps running on device and on Apple’s own Private Cloud Compute servers under Apple’s privacy rules. In practice, Apple chose to partner on the underlying model rather than wait to build everything alone.
Where Siri and Apple Intelligence stand in October 2026
Siri AI is the rebuilt assistant Federighi hinted at. Apple says it understands personal context from your messages, email and photos, is aware of what is on screen, answers general knowledge questions with current web information, and can take actions inside apps. It also gets a dedicated Siri app that keeps your conversation history in sync across devices.
iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max and every iPhone 16 or later.
English at launch, with French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish promised for October.
Server based features have daily caps, and Apple plans paid expanded access later.
Not on iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch in the EU at launch, and not available in China.
Apple has also said Siri AI will soon work with more third party apps, and that features such as Live Rewind and Siri Recap will arrive in beta later in 2026.
Did Apple deliver on Cook’s promise?
Partly. The core promise, a far more capable Siri, has shipped, which answers the biggest criticism Apple faced in 2025. But it arrived roughly two years after Apple first previewed a personal Siri, it is still labeled beta, it relies on Google technology underneath, and it comes with usage caps and regional gaps. Cook’s argument that Apple wins by being better rather than first is now being tested in public, under a new CEO.
FAQ
What did Tim Cook say about AI at the all hands meeting?
According to reports of the August 2025 meeting, he said AI is as significant as the internet and smartphones, that Apple must succeed in it, and that Apple has often won markets without being first.
Does Siri now use Google Gemini?
Apple and Google said in January 2026 that the next generation of Apple Foundation Models is based on Gemini models and cloud technology. Apple Intelligence still runs on device and on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute.
Is Tim Cook still Apple’s CEO?
No. John Ternus became CEO on September 1, 2026. Cook is now executive chairman.
Which iPhones get Siri AI?
iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max and all iPhone 16 and newer models running iOS 27.
The verdict
Cook’s August 2025 pep talk was a promise made under pressure, and Apple has largely kept it: a rebuilt Siri is out, backed by a pragmatic deal with Google. The remaining test is whether Siri AI leaves beta quickly, reaches more languages and regions, and proves useful enough every day to justify the long wait.
Updated October 2026: rewritten to cover Cook’s 2025 AI remarks and Apple’s AI progress through the iOS 27 and Siri AI launch.
Featured photo: Laurenz Heymann on Unsplash.
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