To catch up in AI, Apple may need to make its biggest acquisition ever

“Apple will need to make the biggest acquisition in its history to put an end to its artificial intelligence debacle,” Mark Gurman writes for Bloomberg News. The next generation of products — from smart glasses to robotics to new wearables — will rely heavily on AI, which will be crucial to their functionality. Apple’s internal AI efforts leave much to be desired. Siri is still a joke. An acquisition of a startup like Perplexity AI could allow the company to not only catch up, but to lead the way.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
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Apple’s in-house artificial intelligence work has floundered… [T]he truth is clear. Apple has missed the AI moment — and it should accept that instead of making excuses.
If Apple had built something as groundbreaking as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, it would be celebrating it from every rooftop. Instead, the company is downplaying the competition and branding its offering as “AI for the rest of us” — because that’s really all it can say…
The good news is, Apple has a cash hoard of more than $130 billion and a way out: It can buy its way into the future. The right acquisition could bring in the talent and technology Apple has clearly lacked — as evidenced by the struggles of its Siri voice assistant and its underwhelming generative AI work. This time, transformational M&A is exactly what the company needs.
But first, let’s rule out some possibilities. OpenAI and Anthropic PBC, two of the leading AI developers, are not likely targets. OpenAI has a $300 billion valuation, as well as a relationship with Microsoft. Its convoluted corporate structure also makes it an impractical acquisition. Anthropic isn’t much more attainable. It’s valued at around $60 billion and has deep backing from Amazon.com Inc. and Google. Both deals would invite serious regulatory scrutiny.
The most likely acquisition target in the multibillion-dollar range is Perplexity AI. While the company lacks its own cutting-edge foundation models — like those of OpenAI or Anthropic — it has several advantages that make it a logical fit for Apple…

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MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s going make its biggest acquisition ever, by far, while handicapped by a risk-averse milquetoast caretaker CEO who missed GenAI, who put into place the executives who also missed GenAI, and who failed to buy the likes of Netflix and Tesla for pennies on the dollar when he had the chance?
See also: Time to Think Different: Tim Cook’s leadership has run its course at Apple – June 20, 2025

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