Speaking to the PA news agency, Cook said that both recruitment and investment in AI are expected to increase as the transformative nature of AI technology continues to evolve.
The move comes at a time when many big players in the tech sector have announced significant job losses. Leading firms including Amazon, Meta, Google and Microsoft have cut tens of thousands of jobs since 2022, so Cook’s announcement goes against that trend.
Cook, however, has been critical of these layoffs in the past and earlier this year described them as a "last resort".
As can be seen with the likes of Nvidia, money is pouring into AI with the likes of Amazon and Microsoft both announcing big investments – Amazon recently acquired AI firm Anthropic for $4bn.
The announcement by Apple is certainly good news for the UK and has been welcomed by both the government and by techUK, the industry association.
But while Antony Walker, deputy chief of techUK, welcomed the news he warned that the skills needed for an AI-powered economy were difficult to predict and called on both businesses and government to develop a long-term strategy that puts training in digital skills and lifelong learning at its core.
