In light of the numerous layoffs taking place in the tech sector throughout 2022, Apple CEO Tim Cook has expressed the iPhone company’s desire to increase its workforce in the UK.
He mentioned to the PA news agency that the company intends to hire additional staff specifically for roles in artificial intelligence. This announcement followed Epic Games’ decision to reduce its workforce by 16%, letting go of more than 800 workers.
Global tech corporations like Amazon, Meta, Google and Microsoft have eliminated tens of thousands of jobs since 2022. According to the Evening Standard, Cook has since been outspoken in his criticism of the layoffs in the tech industry, referring to it as a, “Last resort” in May.
When asked about AI and jobs in the UK, Cook said, “We’re hiring in that area, yes, and so I do expect [investment] to increase.
“AI is all over our products today – it’s behind the Fall Detection on the (Apple) Watch, it’s behind Crash Detection, it’s behind Afib (atrial fibrillation) detection, it’s behind the ECG, it’s predictive typing on iPhone… it’s literally everywhere on our products and of course we’re also researching generative AI as well, so yes we have a lot going on,” Cook added.
Apple’s plans with generative AI
Companies continue to invest heavily in AI. Just recently Amazon revealed a commitment of up to $4 billion in the San Francisco-based AI company, Anthropic. This move comes after Microsoft’s multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI back in January.
Another vote of confidence in our burgeoning tech sector!
— Michelle Donelan MP (@michelledonelan) September 29, 2023
Apple’s ongoing investment in brilliant British talent highlights our global credentials as both an AI and technology superpower 🇬🇧 👩💼🍏https://t.co/RAT6n9aJQx
According to Apple’s technology secretary Michelle Donelan, the company’s decision was, “Another vote of confidence in our burgeoning tech sector… Apple’s ongoing investment in brilliant British talent highlights our global credentials as both an AI and technology superpower,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
In acknowledging the importance of the UK for the company, Cook says, “We have developers here working on great apps. We have developers here working on Vision Pro apps and so the developer community is really important to us and we have a huge user base here.”
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
