Apple's AI strategy split: Should they buy or build?
Apple's top brass can't agree on the best way to level up their AI game.
Software chief Craig Federighi wants to keep things in-house, while services head Eddy Cue is pushing for Apple to buy promising AI startups like France's Mistral and US-based Perplexity.
Cue thinks these moves could give Siri and other Apple services a real boost, but big-ticket acquisitions aren't really Apple's style—aside from rare exceptions like Beats (2014) and Intel's modem unit (2019).
Cue's acquisition playbook
Eddy Cue has shaped much of Apple's acquisition playbook, famously leading the $3 billion Beats deal back in 2014.
He believes snapping up talent and tech fast is key to keeping up with Google and Microsoft in the AI race.
But his big swings haven't always landed—his past pitches for buying Netflix or Tesla were shot down by CEO Tim Cook, showing there's still plenty of debate inside Apple about when to build versus when to buy.