Apple considered buying Mistral and Perplexity

Apple CEO Tim Cook is staying on for the foreseeable future, despite internal concerns over Apple's stagnation in AI and product innovation, Blooomberg reports. With COO Jeff Williams retiring and no clear successor in place, Apple is entering its biggest leadership transition in decades. Other top execs—like CFO Luca Maestri, Dan Riccio, and possibly marketing and chip chiefs—are also nearing retirement.

Cook, turning 65 in November, remains firmly supported by Apple’s board and may even become chairman in the future, consolidating his influence. However, senior leaders like Eddy Cue are sounding alarms about Apple's trajectory, comparing the company’s risk to past tech giants like BlackBerry or Nokia.

In response, Apple is reshuffling internal teams and exploring bold moves externally. Crucially, Apple has considered acquiring major AI startups, including Perplexity and Mistral , to close its AI gap. This would mark a departure for a company historically averse to large M&A (never spending more than $3B on a deal).

Apple recently lost Ruoming Pang, its head of foundation models, to Meta — a blow to its AI ambitions, with Meta reportedly offering a $200M+ package. Cook’s potential successor remains hardware chief John Ternus , though questions remain about his operational depth.