00:00 Speaker a
Apple says it intends to invest $500 million in MP materials as a longtime Apple Watcher. What did you think when you saw it?
00:09 Ben Bajarin
Yes, I think it makes a lot of sense, right? Apple has used every opportunity throughout the company's history to buy storage and memory again, even knowing the iPods they've built, um, because their memory prices could fluctuate. So I think you can buy and buy something in bulk that gives you a fixed price that you know you can control your own pricing in the future, um, they're going to make that investment every time, right? In this term, whether it is part of a product or battery, or whatever it is, what rare earth they need to manufacture. These are things they secure if possible, and it makes a lot of sense as it is a very strategic move, allowing them to manage supply chains and keep costs down.
00:52 Speaker a
Stick to the chef. These analysts have seen how some waves issued at least a provocative note, and perhaps it's time for a C-suite change. What did you do with that?
01:00 Ben Bajarin
Yeah, I think the emotions are just wanting to see people who are really coming through modern leaders and ranks that aren't there, or who might bring a fresh take to the business. And I think once again, right, if there's someone better than Tim Cook or others running this company and moving forward, I think they'll make that change. You know, or stubborn, so that I don't think this is a matter of pride or um. I think this is still the right guy. Investors believe he is the right guy. The board believes in the right man. And in fact, I believe that many executives believe he is the right guy. And I think that's an important part of them. But now, this is back to a new era of enforcement. It's once again seen him overseeing a lot of those businesses now.
01:44 Speaker a
Yeah, and Bloomberg's Mark Garman, I saw him report that Cook remains in Apple and I Ben's issues. There are investors, some who are disappointed by where they are. Within stock, you can see how it has responded so far this year, but we're down about 20%. What do you think of that? What do you think about Apple's role in this AI market right now?
02:07 Ben Bajarin
Yes, I think it's just one of the best ways to understand. I don't think the place we go here is that all the technology and winners win everything here. You know, I think people like to bucket things like Openai, Google, etc. They say they're going to win like these. And that's the age of today's searching for the correct chat GPT or Gemini. We move into a time when we are far more agents. That means you have an agent, that the agent works on your behalf, and that understands, you know, you know, you know, your preferences, what you like, you like, where you are in the world, you are your location, your location, your location, your location, your location, your location, your location, and you have other agents, other agents, other agents, etc. Domain expertise. And I think Apple's goal is to once again have domain expertise in the customer's ecosystem. And that's something they can do easily, right? They don't need to boil the ocean. If you want to search the internet, you can partner with Openai or Gemini. But the key is to have a smart, intelligent and intimate agent who knows you. And I think that's their broader strategy and that's just what they can do well.
03:27 Speaker a
And can they accomplish this at Cupertinoben's house? Or because it's time for an analyst to come out on the show and Apple pulls out their checkbook. They'll have to make a big deal, big AI trade. I asked one analyst to tell me it should be confusing. Well, historically Apple has traded, but they're getting smaller. I think the biggest thing they've ever had was the biggest thing they've ever had. It was 3 billion beats. Um, what do you do with that line of questions?
04:02 Ben Bajarin
Yeah. right. Yeah. So, I think there are two things, right? Apple doesn't just look at technology, it's always looking at culture. Is this a cultural fit? It's also a question you have to ask, who can fit into Apple's wider culture. But I think you know, once again, I like confusion. I'm using confusion. They are a little different company. Even if you are using confusion, you still need a large foundation model. So it doesn't completely solve your Apple problem. In reality, I think we can make some small acquisitions. You know, you pointed out that Mark German actually said that mistrals are being seen. This is a big fundamental model. I think that makes a lot of sense. And so many startups are coming out of the valley and doing something really interesting. And some of those teams and individuals in their technology may be suitable for Apple. But again, I don't think they necessarily need the basic model of the internet in this big world. If they have this agent with domain expertise, then it's about their ecosystem, their software, your customers, and your preferences, and I think that agent can work with other agents. I think they have everything they need to do with that vision. The question is, do they want to do more than that?
