Technologies

Apple CEO Tim Cook allegedly threatened by possibly armed woman

In court filings, Apple says the woman, still at large, claimed on social media that Cook was the father of her children. She also sent a series of photos with a loaded handgun.

The County of Santa Clara on Friday granted a temporary restraining order against a Virginia woman who Apple says has been stalking CEO Tim Cook since at least 2020, tagging him on social media, traveling to his home and sending him photos of a loaded handgun. Apple believes she may be armed and somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, intending to return to the «Apple’s CEO’s residence or locate him otherwise in the near future,» the company wrote in a court filing.

The application for the order, which was reported earlier by the San Jose Mercury News, accused the woman of «erratic, threatening and bizarre behavior» on social media, over email and in person. At one point in October, she entered Cook’s Palo Alto, California, property before quickly being stopped by local police. The county’s order bars the woman, whose lawyer could not be located for comment at time of publication, from possessing any guns, entering any Apple office or store, or approaching any Apple employees, including Cook, or Cook’s residence.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment beyond the filings.

This is the latest in a series of incidents in which stalkers have targeted powerful and wealthy tech company leaders at their homes. Many companies now pay for personal security for top executives, which in Apple’s case came to $630,630 last year for Cook, according to the company’s reports. Cook’s personal fortune is estimated to be about $1.4 billion.

The suspected harasser’s Twitter feed, which was cited in court documents, includes a picture of Cook, and claims he is her husband and father to twin children. Cook published an essay about his life as a gay man in 2014 and has been an active advocate ever since.

Between late October 2020 and early November 2020, Apple said the woman emailed Cook approximately 200 times, with «significant escalation in tone, becoming threatening and highly disturbing.» A year later, she appeared at Cook’s residence at least twice, both times on Oct. 22, when she asked his security team to allow her to speak with him and then less than a half hour later entered his property. Apple said in its declarations for the court that she drove a Porsche with Virginia license plates.

On Dec. 18, 2021, the alleged stalker sent Cook an email asking that he give her $500 million, «then I will forget and forgive all better listen to me.»

The court has set a hearing on the matter for March 29.

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Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5, new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.