Apple CEO Tim Cook dinner gestures as he departs after a enterprise leaders reception with the U.S. president on the sidelines of the World Financial Discussion board annual assembly in Davos on Jan. 21, 2026.
Fabrice Coffrini | Afp | Getty Pictures
Apple CEO Tim Cook dinner used a “Good Morning America” look on Monday to close down rising hypothesis about his future on the firm, telling viewers that retirement discuss is nothing greater than a rumor.
Requested about studies that he was making ready to step apart, Cook dinner advised ABC, “No, I did not say that. I have not stated that. I like what I do deeply. Twenty-eight years in the past, I walked into Apple, and I’ve liked every single day of it since.”
He added that he “cannot think about life with out Apple.”
The feedback come after a turbulent stretch for Apple’s C-suite.
In December, the corporate misplaced AI chief John Giannandrea, its high lawyer and a key design government in a single week — whereas chip guru Johny Srouji reportedly signaled he would possibly go away, too.
The departures raised pointed questions on whether or not Cook dinner’s operational management model is the correct match for the unreal intelligence period.
Cook dinner’s reassurance comes at a pivotal second, as Apple turns 50 on April 1.
The corporate is predicted to launch its first foldable iPhone and AI glasses this yr, and it nonetheless must show it may ship the revamped Siri expertise it did not ship in 2025.
LightShed Companions analyst Walter Piecyk was among the many most vocal critics, warning in December that Apple dangers ceding its AI future to Google.
“You are mainly surrendering AI to Google, similar to you surrendered search to Google,” Piecyk advised CNBC in December, arguing that the dependence might finally assist Android achieve share from the iPhone, since that is the place extra of the event and integration would occur.
Apple did not ship its promised overhaul of Siri final yr and has since struck a cope with Google to make use of Gemini to energy AI options on the iPhone — the very association critics say might deepen Apple’s reliance on a direct competitor.
Piecyk referred to as 2026 the best second for Cook dinner handy off the baton, with Apple shares close to all-time highs and a positive improve cycle taking form as shoppers hold on to older telephones and carriers push contemporary subsidies. In Piecyk’s view, it could enable Cook dinner to go away on a excessive word and move the AI transition to a successor he has already helped put together.
However Cook dinner projected no urgency round any transition on Tuesday.
Cook dinner referred to as AI know-how “profound,” and defended Apple’s privacy-first method.
On tariffs — Apple has paid $3.3 billion underneath President Trump’s commerce insurance policies — Cook dinner was noncommittal about pursuing authorized motion, saying solely that the corporate is “monitoring the scenario” and that they’d “resolve accordingly.”
