Apple, Acceleration, and AI – Stratechery by Ben Thompson

Apple has survived for 50 years by being the only major company that deeply integrates hardware and software. Ben Thompson argues that if AI disrupts Apple, it will be because the critical point of integration shifts away from the device level to cloud-based AI services, undermining Apple's core competitive advantage.

Conversations with Horace Dediu and John Gruber explored whether AI will disrupt Apple. The key insight is that even the most reliable narrators of tech history are increasingly uncertain about the future because AI represents a fundamentally different kind of technological shift than previous ones Apple has navigated.

A sophisticated supply chain attack on Axios demonstrated a new category of cybersecurity threat. Thompson argues AI will make security worse in the short-term by enabling more sophisticated attacks, but will ultimately be better than humans at detecting and preventing breaches in the long-term.

Apple's $750 million, five-year deal to broadcast Formula 1 in the U.S. has had a disastrous first month — not due to Apple's performance but because of F1's internal problems including fan backlash, engine redesign issues, and Max Verstappen threatening early retirement at age 28.