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Apple’s AI strategy and investment was on the mind of analysts on an earnings call after the company reported third-quarter earnings that showed overall revenue grew by 10% year over year. While Apple was never going to announce major acquisitions or initiatives on an earnings call, CEO Tim Cook’s remarks on Thursday confirm that the company is going to invest more heavily in the technology. Cook said Apple is going to “significantly” grow the company’s investments in AI. He added that Apple was always looking to buy companies of any size that could help it develop its AI offerings. “We’re very open to M&A that accelerates our roadmap,” Cook said. “We are are not stuck on a certain size company, although the ones that we have acquired thus far this year are small in nature.” Cook said that Apple had acquired “around” seven companies so far this year, although not all of them were focused on AI. While Cook has said in the past that Apple is always evaluating potential acquisitions of all sizes, its largest purchase of all time was Beats Electronics in 2014 for $3 billion. He made the remarks Thursday as Apple has faced growing pressure from Wall Street to catch up to its Silicon Valley peers, all of whom have dedicated tens of billions of dollars toward the infrastructure necessary to power AI. Apple has never been the biggest spender on capital expenditures among big tech companies. It only reported $3.46 billion in capital expenditures in the June quarter, up from $2.15 billion in the year ago period. Its expenses this past quarter are the highest they have been since the quarter ending December 2022. If Apple spent as much as it did this quarter for a full year, that would be about $14 billion annually.
Full report : CEO Tim Cook says Apple ready to open its cash chest for acquisitions to catch up in AI.