Apple CEO considers DeepSeek's artificial intelligence to be “innovation that improves efficiency”

Apple CEO Tim Cook believes that DeepSeek AI models represent "innovations that increase efficiency". He said this during the financial report for the fourth quarter of 2024, TechCrunch reports.

"In general, I think innovation that drives efficiency is a good thing. And, you know, that’s what you see in that model," Tim Cook answered an analyst's question about how DeepSeek's AI models will affect Apple's profit.

Cook also said that Apple uses a hybrid model for its AI, in which some simple tasks are performed locally using its own models on special silicon chips, while more complex tasks are processed in the cloud through partnerships with AI model providers. Currently, the company cooperates in this area only with OpenAI.

Apple noted that its partnership with OpenAI is not exclusive, and in the future it may integrate artificial intelligence models from other companies, such as Google's Gemini or Anthropic's Claude, into the iPhone. Cook did not specify whether Apple plans to add DeepSeek models.

By the way, the launch of Apple's artificial intelligence features did not lead to the expected sharp increase in iPhone sales, and there was even a slight decline compared to last year. However, Tim Cook noted that in the regions where Apple Intelligence was introduced, sales were higher than in those where this feature was not available.

As a reminder, OpenAI recently claimed to have evidence that its AI models were used to train DeepSeek through a process called distillation. If true, this violates OpenAI's usage policy and undermines DeepSeek's achievements.

In addition to OpenAI's accusations, analysts also report that DeepSeek's AI models may have used significantly more GPUs and computing power than the company claims.