MG Siegler recently wrote a piece arguing that Apple should acquire Anthropic (paywall). It’s a fun thought experiment, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

The more time I spend working with AI tools like Claude, the more I’m convinced the future isn’t about applications. It’s going to be an AI agent sitting on top of all your data, managing the tedium while you focus on the work that matters.

Apple is in the perfect position to do this right. They control the hardware, the operating system, and the privacy infrastructure. What they don’t have is a world-class model.

Apple has been struggling with AI for years now. The Google Gemini deal brings hope, but it still isn’t their technology, and it seems like they are bleeding AI talent. Meanwhile, Apple just posted a $42 billion profit last quarter. They have the resources. The question is whether they have the will.

Acquiring Anthropic would change the game overnight. It would take Apple from playing catch-up to leading the conversation. Imagine Claude’s capabilities woven into every Apple device with the kind of deep integration only Apple can pull off. We’d be talking about something way beyond a better Siri.

There’s also an ideological alignment. Anthropic has taken a principled stance on AI safety and responsible development. Apple has always positioned itself as the company that cares about how technology affects people. Those values aren’t identical, but they rhyme.

But stepping back into reality, this is certainly a pipe dream. Anthropic’s current valuation sits around $380 billion. Apple just doesn’t make moves like this. But if there was ever a time to start …