Robert Paul Leitao on Evercore hikes its Apple target $25 to $325 - 'David: I agree a “new and improved” Siri is not only essential for the benefit of Apple’a global bases of product users, it’s also essential to reestablishing Apple’s credibility and confidence in the company’s ability to deliver on AI-bases solutions. I use Siri all day, everyday. It is, in my view and as Gregg suggests, getting marginally better both in speed of responses and in accuracy of responses. My employer provides access to the Microsoft 365 productivity platform and I use Copilot throughout my work day. Although it’s a different style of AI integration than Siri, I find it quite useful for research and fact finding tasks. I’m looking forward to what Apple will eventually deliver to the market and its global user base no later than this spring.'
on Mark Gurman: Apple's AI and robotics teams are draining talent - 'Well Zuckerberg already blew $77 billion on the Metaverse, the last big dream (fantasy?) he chased, even renamed the company after it. Were there any repercussions from that mega-moonshot waste of capital?'
on Gov. Newsom 'begrudges' Apple's fealty to Trump, but Cook's not so much (video) - 'If Newsom wind the presidency, I bet he won’t begrudge apple’s fealty to himself'
on Mark Gurman: Apple's AI and robotics teams are draining talent - '@Bill The other side of the coin is that Meta is losing talent in spite of the high salaries offered. https://biztechweekly.com/metas-ai-talent-exodus-why-mark-zuckerbergs-1-billion-recruitment-strategy-faces-setbacks-amid-internal-turmoil-and-ethical-concerns/'
on Mark Gurman: Apple's AI and robotics teams are draining talent - 'Remember when Apple was doomed after Ives’ departure? Me neither.'
on Mark Gurman: Apple's AI and robotics teams are draining talent - 'In particular, would ‘noncompete’ terms apply and be enforceable?'
on Evercore hikes its Apple target $25 to $325 - 'Mid to upper 300’s a year from now? At the moment I’m modeling $375 by JAN 2027. That’s dependent on the launch of a revised Apple Vision Pro and Vision Store with games, movies and live sports at WWDC.'
on Mark Gurman: Apple's AI and robotics teams are draining talent - 'The fact that Gurman only ever talks about one half of the picture – who’s leaving Apple – and never the other half – who’s going to Apple – ensures that I almost never pay any attention to what he says or concludes about the talent flow related to anything Apple is doing. And if Apple is indeed not be prioritizing development of its own LLM, it would be great news to me and an indicator of the high competence and strategic insight of senior Apple management, rather than the panic signal that Gurman wants it to be.'
on Mark Gurman: Apple's AI and robotics teams are draining talent - 'Gurman is becoming a cliché of himself. His penchant for putting a negative spin on everything Apple does undermines any journalistic objectivity he may have once had. To wit: “But there’s been a broader collapse within Apple’s artificial intelligence organization…” And “Roughly a dozen other top AI researchers have left the organization, which is suffering from low morale.” From this horse shit interpretation you’d think Apple was going over a cliff. MY TAKE: What Apple is doing is good news. It is refreshing itself. It is getting rid of old wood and upgrading an important new category with new blood that apparently could use it. THE FUTURE From what’s being churned out by the rumor mill, it appears the entire human race is hell-bent on replacing itself with artificial intelligence. Consequently, the stock market analysts see the rise and fall of every Tech company is now dependent on how quickly they throw money at it. It’s been written that self-generating AI is historic on the level of the industrial revolution, splitting the atom, or inventing the Internet – and some believe is in affect the human race giving birth to a new species. With the logical conclusion that this self-generating superior – inevitably sentient and self-aware intelligence – will grow to be more powerful than anything we could control. Pardon me if I’m getting a bit verbose. But I grew up reading and watching sci-fi based on this fun idea – arguably the most popular movie genre out there today. That said… All significant new technology takes years before it affects the economy, culture, and changes people’s lives. It’s ironical, Apple is doing what genAI is supposed to do. Improve itself and get smarter exponentially at breakneck speed. The difference between Apple and AI, is that Apple is still driven by human values. And unlike tech companies like META – values human privacy and security above profit. There is no finish line. Until we’re completely replaced, of course. It’s only a matter of time before Gurman is replaced by an AI. If he hasn’t been already.'
on Mark Gurman: Johny Srouji is talking about leaving Apple - 'Intel might also be a possibility, if Apple is seriously looking at a return to Intel for chips. I see this as a potentially valuable offer from Apple to Intel to take a whole lot of Apple knowledge to a potential new manufacturer.'
on Mark Gurman: Johny Srouji is talking about leaving Apple - 'I think that’s exactly right, Gregg. I think Amazon would be the only destination that could make any sense. Obviously NVDA’s business is aligned with Johny’s skillset, but one doesn’t get the sense that they are in desperate need of a change of direction or strategy at the top. None of the other companies that could afford him (or that operate at a large enough scale) are serious enough about hardware. I don’t see Meta, Google, etc., making a large enough strategic bet to making hiring Srouji make sense. Amazon is the one possible exception; they see strategic value in designing their own hardware to run their own data centers. It isn’t inconceivable that they might make a run at emulating Apple’s M-series program in-house. Maybe Microsoft, if you squint, and imagine them wanting to be more competitive with Windows on ARM? It just doesn’t seem to be in their DNA right now. Massive scale companies aside, what are the other alternatives? A startup? Timing seems very poor for fund raising a new startup at the level of investment that would be required in this space.'
on Mark Gurman: Apple's AI and robotics teams are draining talent - 'I wonder if all the mega bucks Meta is spending to buy all the talent will eventually come back to bite them. Kind of like all the financial commitments to AI. Maybe they’ll be successful. Or not. It might force Apple to start paying mega bucks as well. This is probably at the heart of any dissatisfaction.'
on Mark Gurman: Apple's AI and robotics teams are draining talent - 'The higher the VIX, the higher the clicks. Or in less financial terms, if it bleeds, it leads.'
