Apple CEO Tim Cook Praises DeepSeek's Efficiency in AI Innovation

Apple CEO Tim Cook says DeepSeek shows 'innovation that drives efficiency'

TL;DR: DeepSeek has emerged as a significant player in the AI industry, challenging OpenAI's ChatGPT. Apple CEO Tim Cook views this development positively, highlighting DeepSeek's cost efficiency in AI model training and operation. Cook emphasizes Apple's integration of silicon and software, maintaining a hybrid model for efficiency. DeepSeek has come in like a wrecking ball in the AI industry, knocking down OpenAI and its leading ChatGPT, and now Apple CEO Tim Cook has had some comments about the Chinese company. In Apple's recent investors call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the disruptive new AI model is a positive development for the iPhone giant. During the call, analyst Ben Reitzes from Melius asked Cook about how the arrival of DeepSeek is viewed by Apple. DeepSeek is far cheaper in development costs for training advanced AI models, as well as the running costs of these AI models. Reitzes asked: "Hey, Tim. I wanted to ask you, you knew this one was coming, but there's a perception that you're a big beneficiary of lower cost compute, and I was wondering of your worldly perspective here on the deep situation, and if you are going to, if anything's happened to change your views in terms of the tailwind to margin and your ability to execute, even due to the potential for cost to come down due to that development and probably what's going to happen that happened anyway, but I love your perspective on that". Cook said: "In general, I think innovation that drives efficiency is a good thing. And, you know, that's what you see in that model". Our tight integration of silicon and software I think will continue to serve us very well. As you know, we do things on the device and we do things in the private cloud, which mimics from an architectural point of view, what happens on the device".

Apple CEO Tim Cook responds to DeepSeek AI arrival - 9to5Mac

When asked about Chinese AI firm DeepSeek on today's investor call, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained how the disruptive new model is a positive development for the iPhone maker. Analyst Ben Reitzes from Melius raised the question of how the arrival of DeepSeek is viewed by Apple. DeepSeek represents a drop in developmental cost of spinning up advanced AI models as well as the cost to run these models. Hey, Tim. I wanted to ask you, you knew this one was coming, but there's a perception that you're a big beneficiary of lower cost compute, and I was wondering of your worldly perspective here on the deep situation, and if you are going to, if anything's happened to change your views in terms of the tailwind to margin and your ability to execute, even due to the potential for cost to come down due to that development and probably what's going to happen that happened anyway, but I love your perspective on that. Cook responded by acknowledging the innovation that DeepSeek has shown in bringing down the cost of training and running their V3 model, which is behind the R1 reasoning model that competes with ChatGPT o3: In general, I think innovation that drives efficiency is a good thing, and, you know, that's what you see in that model. Our tight integration of silicon and software I think will continue to serve us very well. As you know, we do things on the device and we do things in the private cloud, which mimics from an architectural point of view, what happens on the device. And from a CapEx point of view, we've always taken a very prudent, deliberate approach to our expenditure and we continue to leverage a hybrid model, which I think continues to serve us well. That hybrid model, building out Apple Intelligence while integrating with OpenAI's ChatGPT, has certainly been praised this week. Apple is seen as not overly investing in AI now that development and operational costs should come down. Of course, that doesn't mean Apple can slow its AI efforts, but it certainly takes the pressure off for now. For much more on the DeepSeek development, read our 9to5Neural explainer on DeepSeek, how it's disrupting the American AI landscape, and more.

Apple CEO says DeepSeek shows 'innovation that drives efficiency' | TechCrunch

Apple CEO Tim Cook said DeepSeek's AI models represent "innovation that drives efficiency" on an earnings call on Thursday while fielding questions from analysts about the iPhone maker's ambitions around AI. "In general, I think innovation that drives efficiency is a good thing. And, you know, that's what you see in that model," said Cook, responding to an analyst's question about how DeepSeek's AI models would impact Apple's margins. Cook went on to note that Apple leverages a hybrid model for its AI, in which it runs some simple tasks locally - using its own AI models on its device's custom silicon chips. Meanwhile, other, more complicated tasks run in the cloud through partnerships with AI model providers. Cook also noted Apple has always taken a "prudent and deliberate" approach to these types of expenditures. Apple currently only has one AI partnership, with OpenAI, which allows ChatGPT to answer complex questions from iPhone users in a private cloud. Notably, OpenAI claimed this week to have evidence that its AI models were used to train DeepSeek's AI models through a process called distillation. If true, that would violate OpenAI's usage policies, and undermine DeepSeek's accomplishments. That didn't stop Apple's CEO from tossing a compliment towards DeepSeek. Apple has indicated its OpenAI partnership is not exclusive, and it may integrate other companies' AI models into the iPhone in the future, such as Google's Gemini or Anthropic's Claude. Cook did not go as far as to suggest Apple would integrate DeepSeek's models, however. Beyond OpenAI's allegations of IP theft, several tech analysts have suggested that DeepSeek's AI models were trained with significantly more GPUs and computation costs than the company claims. That would mean DeepSeek's AI models were not trained quite as efficiently as some suspected. Still, the Chinese AI lab sells access to its models at a steep discount compared with what American AI labs charge. Investors also peppered Cook with questions about the success of Apple Intelligence. The phased launch of Apple's AI features does not appear to have created the immediate boost to iPhone sales that some predicted. Instead, sales slightly declined in the last quarter, compared to last year. Hoping to spin the decline more favorably, Cook claimed the company saw stronger sales in regions where Apple Intelligence had rolled out than regions where it had not. Apple has faced other issues with its AI features, beyond their lack of availability. It recently paused its AI summaries of news articles this month after the feature produced misleading headlines. In one case, Apple Intelligence hallucinated and changed a BBC news headline to incorrectly read that Luigi Mangione, the man charged in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself, which was untrue.

Tim Cook Praises China's DeepSeek For Driving Efficiency, Stresses Apple's 'Prudent And Deliberate' Approach Toward Capital Expenditure - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

On Thursday, Apple Inc. AAPL CEO Tim Cook lauded DeepSeek, a China-based AI startup. What Happened: During Apple's first-quarter earnings call, Cook was asked about the perception that Cupertino is benefiting from lower compute costs. The analyst inquired about Cook's perspective on the DeepSeek situation and whether any changes in the cost landscape could impact Apple's margins. In response, the Apple CEO detailed the company's use of a hybrid AI model, where simple tasks are executed locally on devices, while complex operations are managed in the cloud through AI partnerships. Currently, Apple collaborates with OpenAI, leveraging ChatGPT to assist iPhone users via a private cloud. See Also: Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Pays Trump $25 Million To Settle Lawsuit Over Facebook, Instagram Ban After Jan. 6 Riot: 'A Big Year For Redefining Our Relationships With Governments' "From a CapEx point of view, we've always taken a very prudent and deliberate approach to our expenditure and we continue to leverage a hybrid model, which I think continues to serve us well," Cook stated. Despite OpenAI's accusation of DeepSeek using its models without permission, Cook acknowledged DeepSeek's contributions. "In general, I think innovation that drives efficiency is a good thing. And, you know, that's what you see in that model," he said on the earnings call. Why It Matters: Apple has previously indicated that it is open to incorporating AI models from other companies, like Google's Gemini or Anthropic's Claude, into future iPhones. DeepSeek claims to have developed its cost-efficient R1 model in just two months with an investment of $5.6 million. While these claims have been scrutinized they have also raised questions about the need for large-scale GPU investments. Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. On Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also acknowledged DeepSeek's novel approaches. However, he said it's too soon to determine how these developments will impact infrastructure usage and capital expenditures. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also recognized DeepSeek's AI innovations but remained cautious about their potential to reduce AI costs. Apple's earnings report revealed a fiscal first-quarter revenue of $124.3 billion, surpassing analyst estimates, despite a decline in iPhone sales. Price Action: Apple's stock rose by 3.01% in after-hours trading, hitting $244.75. In regular trading on Thursday, it closed at $237.59, reflecting a 0.74% decline, according to Benzinga Pro data. Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Image via Shutterstock Read Next: Apple's iPad Turns 15 Today: Here's A Throwback To When Steve Jobs Explained Called It The 'Third Category' After Phones And Notebooks Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. AAPLApple Inc$244.752.25%Overview Rating:Good75%Technicals Analysis1000100Financials Analysis600100WatchlistOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs