Apple CEO Tim Cook Visits China's AI Hub, Praises DeepSeek Amid Shifting Tech Landscape

Apple CEO Visits DeepSeek's Hometown During China AI Revival

Apple Inc.'s Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook visited China's artificial intelligence hub of Hangzhou, the home of AI sensation DeepSeek which shocked the world with its models built at a fraction of the cost of American rivals. Cook met with "the next generation of developers" at the city's elite Zhejiang University on Wednesday, he said in a post on his official Weibo account. Apple donated 30 million yuan ($4.1 million) to the university, the Cupertino, California-based company said in a statement. An array of tech executives among its alumni, including DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng and Colin Huang of e-commerce giant PDD Holdings Inc.

Tim Cook says China's DeepSeek AI is 'excellent' during visit

But none of this has stopped Apple CEO Tim Cook describing it as "excellent" during a visit to Beijing for the China Development Forum ... DeepSeek is an AI chatbot developed in China which quickly climbed to the #1 slot in Apple's App Store. China posted benchmarks indicating that its performance was comparable to the world's best existing models. Experts quickly verified the claims, expressing shock that China was able to achieve this at a fraction of the development cost of US models, and running locally on very modestly-specced PCs - though it was later suggested the cost differential was exaggerated. Privacy concerns quickly led to investigations being opened in both the US and Europe. US officials are looking at the national security implications of the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said [while] Italy's data protection authority said it was seeking answers from DeepSeek on its use of personal data. The additional issues described above then followed. Cook is visiting the country to participate in the China Development Forum, and has been sharing his visit in a series of Weibo posts. "Hello, Beijing! I can't think of a better way to kick off my time in China than a beautiful walk with Yang Tianzhen. Thanks AlexJ for capturing the view on your iPhone!" "Henry Lau may be a one-man band, but with iPhone 16 Pro Max as his companion, he turns every stage into a full-blown concert. Thank you for sharing your incredible talent with us!" "It is amazing to see iPad and Mac help rural teachers deliver engaging lessons to their students. We're proudly expanding our work with CDRF because we know education can create opportunities for rural communities in China." "Physics class has come a long way! Excited to see educators push the boundaries of learning with Apple Vision Pro!" "We're proud to announce a new clean energy fund in China! Two thirds of our supply chain here is already running on renewable energy and this will help further our goal of running on 100% renewable energy by 2030." "Thanks Chun Xiao for sharing how you captured the traditional art of the Kun Opera through the modern lens of iPhone 16 Pro!" The South China Morning Post reports that he called DeepSeek "excellent" when speaking to state media. Cook recommended the artificial intelligence models of Chinese start-up DeepSeek ahead of a developer conference in Shanghai, as the US tech giant awaits final approval to bring Apple Intelligence to iPhones on the mainland. Speaking on the sidelines of the China Development Forum in Beijing, a state-organised forum to woo global investors, the executive told the official China News Service that DeepSeek's models were "excellent", the outlet reported on Sunday. Cook did not elaborate. Apple's dependence on China as its primary manufacturing center, as well as for a very large slice of its sales, means that Cook is frequently forced to make diplomatic remarks about the country, no matter how much its policies and actions may conflict with the iPhone maker's values. One of the major compromises Apple had to make was to partner with a local company for the launch of Apple Intelligence in China, with all of the political censorship that will involve. The government had made it crystal clear that this was not optional. It seems likely Cook was asked to comment on DeepSeek, and gave the shortest possible diplomatic answer.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Praises China's DeepSeek

Apple CEO Tim Cook has praised the artificial intelligence models developed by Chinese start-up DeepSeek, as the company moves closer to launching Apple Intelligence on the Chinese mainland pending regulatory approval, the South China Morning Post reports. Speaking at the China Development Forum in Beijing, a state-organized annual event designed to attract global investment, Cook reportedly referred to DeepSeek's AI models as "excellent." He did not elaborate on whether Apple would pursue a partnership with the company. Cook previously commented during Apple's January earnings call that "innovation that drives efficiency is a good thing," in reference to AI companies like DeepSeek, which have been able to deliver impressive performance with lower cost and compute requirements. DeepSeek has been praised for developing large language models that achieve comparable results to those from U.S. firms such as OpenAI, while requiring significantly fewer resources. The firm claims that its R1 model was developed in just two months with a total cost of $5.6 million. In February, it was reported that Apple had reached an agreement with Alibaba Group to integrate the Chinese conglomerate's Qwen models into Apple Intelligence for mainland users. The company is also believed to be in talks with Baidu to serve as an additional provider of large language models for the Chinese market. In addition to his comments on AI, Cook announced plans to expand Apple's cooperation with the China Development Research Foundation, alongside continued investments in clean energy development. Throughout his visit, Cook posted updates on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, showcasing a range of Apple products being used in classrooms, creative environments, and more. Cook's comments mark a continuation of Apple's intensified focus on the Chinese market at a time when the company is facing declining iPhone shipments and heightened competition from domestic brands. Apple's smartphone shipments in China are believed to have fallen by 25% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2024, while annual shipments dropped 17% to 42.9 million units, placing Apple behind local competitors Vivo and Huawei.

Tim Cook's praise for DeepSeek is politics, not endorsement

Tim Cook enthusing in an interview about China's app developers -- image credit: China Daily During his latest visit to China, Apple CEO Tim Cook has praised the country's DeepSeek AI technology, but the resulting claims that this means Apple will adopt it are exaggerated. Cook's China visit has included a stop at Zhejiang University, which is the alma mater of Liang Wenfeng, founder of the DeepSeek AI technology. And according to Bloomberg, Cook has now also visited DeepSeek's home town. However, that's not remotely as significant as it is being portrayed, since that home town is Hangzhou -- which is where Zhejiang University is based. It's also where Alibaba is located, which is the firm confirmed to be working with Apple on bringing Apple Intelligence to China. Cook flew to China, at least partly, in order to attend the annual China Development Forum in Beijing, which is about 800 miles from Hangzhou. According to the South China Morning Post, Cook took time out of that conference to praise DeepSeek. Just not very much time. Cook called DeepSeek's Large Language Models "excellent" -- and that was it. Even the South China Morning Post said that he wouldn't elaborate. It's not as if Cook had the slightest reluctance to praise China. In an interview with the China Daily Twitter channel, for instance, he enthused about how the creativity of Chinese developers is "second to none." In comparison, called DeepSeek's LLMs "excellent" sounds like something you say when pressed for a comment. It does not sound like Tim Cook is necessarily a fan of DeepSeek. He could well be, since what's notable about DeepSeek's LLMs is that they are used particularly efficiently. And developing them cost a few millions of dollars, compared to the billions that have been invested in OpenAI. So maybe Cook was hoping to catch the eye of DeepSeek's Liang Wenfeng, maybe he is building up to proposing a partnership. Maybe there already is a deal with DeepSeek coming to Apple Intelligence in the way that ChatGPT has, and Google Gemini is expected to. But when you're visiting someone's home, it's only polite to say nice things. Even if you weren't also Apple's unofficial political strategist.

Apple boss hails 'next generation of developers' on China visit

Apple boss Tim Cook on Wednesday praised "the next generation of developers" during a visit to a technology hub in eastern China, as the US tech giant battles to stay relevant in the country's vast consumer market. "Thrilled to meet the next generation of developers at Zhejiang University today," Cook said Wednesday in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo that included a video of him interacting with students.Beijing, Mar 26, 2025 -Apple boss Tim Cook on Wednesday praised "the next generation of developers" during a visit to a technology hub in eastern China, as the US tech giant battles to stay relevant in the country's vast consumer market. The iPhone maker last year lost its status as the best-selling smartphone brand in China, but has sought to boost its ties to the country in recent months. "Thrilled to meet the next generation of developers at Zhejiang University today," Cook said Wednesday in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo that included a video of him interacting with students. The post came as Apple announced it would donate 30 million yuan ($4.1 million) to the college to provide students with technical and business training in app development. Based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang University is known for producing elite tech talent including Liang Wenfeng, the founder of AI startup DeepSeek. The company stunned the world this year with a model chatbot that seemed able to match the performance of US rivals at a fraction of the cost. Cook met China's commerce minister Wang Wentao on the sidelines of a key development forum in Beijing on Monday, with the ministry saying they "exchanged views on Apple's business development in China, China-US economic and trade ties and other topics". In February, Chinese ecommerce titan Alibaba said it would supply AI technology to power Apple's iPhones in China.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Calls DeepSeek's AI Models 'Excellent' During China Visit | PYMNTS.com

Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly told the official China News Service that DeepSeek's artificial intelligence (AI) models are "excellent." Cook said this on the sidelines of the China Development Forum in Beijing, a day before Apple is set to hold its developer conference in Shanghai, the South China Morning Post reported Monday (March 24). At the developer conference, Apple is expected to share details about Apple Intelligence with Chinese developers, according to the report. The company is waiting for final approval to add Apple Intelligence to iPhones in the country, the report said. When a new AI model from DeepSeek was launched in January, tech stocks plunged as the company claimed it achieved performance comparable to those of U.S. rivals while using substantially fewer Nvidia chips. During Apple's Jan. 30 earnings call, Cook was asked about the rise of DeepSeek and said, "In general, I think innovation that drives efficiency is a good thing. And that's what you see in that model." In February, a top executive from China's Alibaba said his company partnered with Apple to help bring AI-powered iPhones to China. "They want to use our AI to power their phones, so we're very fortunate and extremely honored to be able to do business with a great company like Apple," Joe Tsai, Alibaba's chair, said at a conference in Dubai. It was reported in January that Apple's iPhone sales dropped 5% late last year amid stronger competition from Chinese rivals and that much of the decline could be attributed to the lack of Apple's AI features on phones sold in China. One roadblock was that Apple had not yet been able to add those features to iPhone 16s sold in China even as Chinese companies like Huawei added them. The company was trying to secure partnerships with Chinese companies to roll out its AI features. China requires generative AI operators to secure government permission before they can debut a product. "Apple's iPhone 16 series was met with a mixed response, partly due to a lack of availability of Apple Intelligence at launch," Tarun Pathak, director at Counterpoint Research, said at the time.

Apple's Cook praises DeepSeek ahead of Shanghai developer conference

Apple CEO Tim Cook chats with other attendees before the opening ceremony for the China Development Forum at Diaoyutai Guesthouse in Beijing, China, March 23. Reuters-Yonhap Apple CEO Tim Cook recommended the artificial intelligence (AI) models of Chinese start-up DeepSeek ahead of a developer conference in Shanghai, as the U.S. tech giant awaits final approval to bring Apple Intelligence to iPhones on the mainland. Speaking on the sidelines of the China Development Forum in Beijing, a state-organized forum to woo global investors, the executive told the official China News Service that DeepSeek's models were "excellent," the outlet reported on Sunday. Cook did not elaborate. The forum was part of Cook's first visit to China this year. He also posted on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo about his tour of Beijing with a local influencer on Saturday. Apple is set to hold its developer conference in Shanghai on Tuesday, where it is expected to unveil details about Apple Intelligence for mainland developers. The DeepSeek app is seen in this illustration, Jan. 29. Reuters-Yonhap Cook's visit comes amid declining China sales for the Cupertino, California-based company, as pressure mounts in tandem with increased tariffs by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Apple's smartphone shipments in China slumped 25 percent in the fourth quarter as it faces intensified competition from domestic brands such as Huawei Technologies, Vivo and Xiaomi, although the launch of the iPhone 16 series helped it rise to No. 1 for the three months through December. For the full year, Apple's shipments declined 17 percent to 42.9 million units in the country, trailing Vivo and Huawei. Cook visited China at least three times last year in a show of Apple's support for the world's biggest smartphone market as it tries to boost consumer confidence amid sluggish demand. During his last visit in November, he attended a supply chain conference in Beijing, where he emphasized that Apple "could not do what it does" without its Chinese partners. Apple plans to launch Apple Intelligence in multiple languages, including simplified Chinese, in April with the release of the latest version of iOS. Last month, news broke that the iPhone maker struck a deal with Alibaba Group Holding to use the Chinese firm's Qwen AI models as part of Apple Intelligence on the mainland, the South China Morning Post reported. Alibaba owns the Post. The company is reportedly also partnering with Baidu to use its models, according to The Information. Cook is among a group of U.S. executives attending the forum this year, where Chinese Premier Li Qiang pledged to open more sectors of the economy and called on global corporate leaders to seize opportunities from China's renewed momentum in innovation, which has received a boost by the success of DeepSeek this year. The Hangzhou-based start-up took the tech world by storm after unveiling AI models which were built at a fraction of the costs and computing resources used by U.S. rivals, while delivering comparable results. Cook previously praised DeepSeek during an earnings call in January, saying "innovation that drives efficiency is a good thing." Read the full story at SCMP.