The Secret Meeting That Made Apple Take AI Seriously — And Why It Almost Didn’t Happen

In early 2025, Apple held a meeting that may have saved the company’s AI future. In a conference room near Craig Federighi’s software engineering department, nearly every senior leader assembled — SVPs, the COO, the CFO, and direct reports to Tim Cook. The CEO himself wasn’t present. Jeff Williams, then-COO, called the meeting to order.

The subject: Apple Intelligence was a flop, Siri’s critical overhaul was about to be delayed, and rivals were pulling away. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, executives discussed just how much trouble the company was in if real changes weren’t made immediately.

The Power Struggle

The meeting produced a recommendation to Cook: fresh leadership was needed for AI. Mike Rockwell — the executive who built the Vision Pro — emerged as the strongest voice. He had argued for a decade that Apple needed to take AI seriously. About ten years ago, former hardware chief Dan Riccio told colleagues that AI could become “an existential threat” to Apple’s devices. Rockwell was directed to create a five-year Siri road map. Apple’s top executives weren’t receptive. The road map was never implemented.

Now, with AI in crisis, Rockwell volunteered to become Apple’s AI fixer. But a critical disagreement emerged. Rockwell believed he was volunteering to become Apple’s overall AI leader, replacing John Giannandrea and reporting directly to Cook. Federighi pushed back — insisting Rockwell would oversee Siri while reporting to him, not the CEO.

Rockwell initially backed away, believing Federighi had been slow to recognize AI’s importance. But ultimately, as a “company man,” he accepted the role under Federighi.

Cook Gets Involved — Personally

In an out-of-character move, Cook became intimately involved in Apple’s AI road map — voicing preferences for features, unilaterally making decisions, and giving the company an AI-focused pep talk. This was a departure from his typical approach of participating in demos but leaving road maps to lieutenants.

Cook also urged Federighi and other leaders to “get their act together,” believing they had dramatically underperformed. Generative AI wasn’t even on Apple’s radar when ChatGPT launched in late 2022.

The Reversals

The result is a series of strategic reversals that Apple will showcase at WWDC Monday:

• Chatbots: Federighi dismissed the need for chatbot apps when Apple Intelligence launched. Now Apple is building a standalone Siri app to rival ChatGPT.
• AI photos: Apple’s camera chief said in 2024 that a photo should be “a personal celebration of something that really, actually happened.” Now Apple will let users fill in gaps using generative AI.
• Google partnership: Apple signed a ~$1B/year deal to replace Siri’s underlying models with Gemini and Google Cloud — after an investigation Rockwell kicked off immediately after taking the job.

The Stakes

Apple’s AI crisis isn’t just about Siri. It’s about a company that spent decades setting the direction of the technology industry suddenly finding itself behind. Multiple hardware products — a tabletop robot (delayed to 2028), smart home display (delayed to late 2026), and AI glasses (delayed to late 2027) — are blocked because the AI software isn’t ready.

Monday’s WWDC keynote is Tim Cook’s final act as CEO. The new Siri is the first product of Apple’s AI reckoning — and the beginning of what the company hopes is a foundation for the AI era under incoming CEO John Ternus.

Sources

• Mark Gurman, Power On — Apple’s Secret Meeting on AI Crisis, Bloomberg

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