Just a few years ago, Apple stood at the top of the tech world. Today, the question some investors are asking is not whether Apple is winning in AI, but whether it has already lost.
The Cracks Are Showing
Apple shares are down 18% in the first half of 2025. That’s a $640 billion drop in market value. The stock’s decline comes at a time when AI has become the must-have tech for every major company. Apple, once the leader in user-friendly innovation, is now seen by some as an also-ran in the AI race.
The problem starts with Siri.
Back in 2011, Siri was ahead of its time. It gave Apple a huge head start in voice-driven AI. But fast forward to 2025, and Siri still can’t hold a real conversation, remember past requests, or even reliably answer basic questions without kicking you to a web search.
Behind the scenes, it’s been even messier.
Internal Chaos and Lost Talent
After hiring Google’s AI chief John Giannandrea (JG) in 2018, Apple seemed poised to make big strides. But insiders say progress slowed. Teams focused on shaving milliseconds off Siri’s response time instead of making it smarter. When engineers tried building better models on their own, management shut them down. One executive had so little faith in the main AI team that he built a rival group with hundreds of engineers duplicating the same work.
Meanwhile, companies like OpenAI and Meta raced ahead. ChatGPT exploded. AI tools became smarter, faster, and more essential. Apple stuck to its usual playbook: move slowly, watch what everyone else is doing, cherry-pick the best ideas, get it right, then launch.
That strategy does not work in AI. You cannot “perfect” your way to the top in a world that rewards fast iteration and bold risk-taking.
The result? Apple’s top AI engineers are taking the money and running. Ruoming Pang, one of Apple’s best, just left for Meta. His reported pay package? $200 million. One engineer. One check. Enough to fund an entire team for years.
Dependence on Outsiders
Apple did roll out “Apple Intelligence,” a package of its own AI features. But even that has fallen flat. Apple is now reportedly relying on OpenAI and possibly Anthropic to power a “new” version of Siri, delayed until at least 2026. That raises real questions about whether Apple can, or should, build its own AI.
Even more troubling, OpenAI just bought a design firm co-founded by Jony Ive, the legendary designer behind the iPhone. The plan? Build a next-gen AI device. Translation: Apple may soon depend on a company that’s actively working to replace it.
Leadership in Question
CEO Tim Cook took Apple from $300 billion to $3.2 trillion. That is an historic run. But his success came from optimizing systems, not creating and launching groundbreaking new products. Unless you count earbuds, Cook’s Apple has not delivered a major product breakthrough in over a decade.
That approach may have worked in the smartphone era. But AI is different. It demands vision, not just execution. Some investors are starting to ask the hard question: Is Tim Cook the right leader for Apple’s AI era?
Where Things Stand
No one’s saying Apple is doomed. The company has deep pockets, loyal users, and the ability to buy almost any AI startup it wants. But that is not enough. To move to the top, Apple must take chances, innovate, and deliver new AI products.
Right now, Apple feels more like it is playing catch-up than setting the pace. In a world where AI is quickly becoming the new electricity, being late is not just bad, it could be fatal.
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