Josh Brown Highlights The 'Biggest Open Question' About Apple (AAPL) AI Strategy

We recently published Top 9 AI and Non-Tech Stocks to Watch Amid Latest Earnings Season. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the top AI and non-tech stocks.

Josh Brown from CNBC recently commented on the impact of the Microsoft-OpenAI deal on Apple. OpenAI recently transitioned its for-profit subsidiary into a public-benefit corporation, of which Microsoft will own 27%.

“I can’t believe no one’s talking about it yet, is what does this mean for Apple’s partnership with OpenAI?,” Brown said.” "Because effectively, I wouldn’t say it’s a merger, but this official financial tie-up between Microsoft and OpenAI is obviously in addition to the technological tie-up. I don’t know, does Apple have to do a deal now with Gemini, or is Apple going to be ready on a standalone basis with a foundational LLM model internally? The Siri/Apple Intelligence revamp coming on the heels of the rollout that nobody particularly was excited about is going to be, I think, critical for Apple. Do they want to double down on this existing partnership they have with OpenAI, or in light of this now becoming a formal deal with Microsoft’s stake in OpenAI’s revenue, do they turn to Alphabet and Gemini? I think it’s a really fascinating moment in the development of all these platforms, and to me, that’s the biggest open question now that we know what this relationship between Microsoft and the ChatGPT products is going to be.”

Apple recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, but narrowly missed forecasts for iPhone amid headwinds in China. The company’s revenue grew about 8%, and its P/E of 40 is raising some alarms among Apple skeptics who believe iPhone 17 or new models won’t be enough to keep the company growing.

Columbia Threadneedle Global Technology Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:

“Finally, shares of technology bellwether Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) underperformed the market and lost value as the company faced a classic innovator’s dilemma, which appeared all the more egregious as competitors embraced the AI opportunity. Apple has had a dominant market position in smartphones and services, but now more than ever, investors are questioning the future outlook for the company. Despite posting a negative absolute strategy return during the quarter, which weighed on absolute strategy returns, relative to Apple’s the company’s large position in the benchmark our underweight position proved to be a tailwind to relative results during the quarter.”

While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.