Apple CEO Tim Cook has created more shareholder value than Steve Jobs. But suddenly his weaknesses are on display in the AI era

It seems impossible that Tim Cook’s legacy as Apple’s spectacularly successful CEO could be in jeopardy. But in recent months, and especially in recent days, the impossible has become at least conceivable.

The latest tremors came when Apple announced chief operating officer Jeff Williams would retire by yearend after 27 years. Just a day before, the company’s top AI executive, Ruoming Pang, had left to join Meta, and weeks earlier, another high-level AI researcher, Tom Gunter, had also left.