At an all-hands meeting for employees, Cook said: "Apple must do this," adding that this is "ours to grab.” He expressed hopes that, though Apple has been relatively late in rolling out AI tools it could still dominate its rivals. “We’ve rarely been first,” the CEO told staff. “There was a PC before the Mac; there was a smartphone before the iPhone… “This is how I feel about AI.” Cook also discussed practical steps Apple is taking to make these plans a reality. Stating that Apple is investing in AI in a “big way,” and that 40% of the 12,000 employees hired last year are set to work on research and development. Bloomberg reported earlier this week that Apple is working on a new cloud-computing chip, code-named Baltra, to power new AI features. Meanwhile, Cook told CNBC earlier this week that the company is open to acquiring companies to help it get ahead in the AI race. #timcook #apple #ai #ainews #technews