TL;DR: Apple’s weeklong Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off on Monday. It’s a moment of change for the tech giant, which is working to overcome a complicated AI narrative and launch a new and improved AI-powered Siri—all while quietly orchestrating its biggest leadership transition in decades. At WWDC, Apple will make its case for its next era.

What’s happening: Apple reportedly plans to use WWDC to make an unusual pitch—that running AI models locally on your device rather than the cloud is a feature, not a limitation, people familiar with its plans told the Information late last week. It’s also hoping to make a splash with a rebuilt Siri, all with the backdrop of an impending leadership change that will install Apple's longtime hardware chief John Ternus as the company’s next CEO.

The AI pitch: While its rivals sink billions of dollars into massive data center buildouts for cloud infrastructure, Apple is reportedly planning to position its processing constraints as a privacy feature.

Its logic? The chips designed for iPhones, Apple Watches, and Macs can process simple queries directly on devices to preserve privacy and reduce costs. The company will use a large version of Google’s Gemini model to train a smaller version capable of running locally on Apple hardware, the Information reported. Good news for founders: Apple is also reportedly shopping for startups that know how to shrink AI models.

Plus, Siri should finally be getting its long-awaited makeover. According to recreated screenshots by Bloomberg, Siri’s all-new app essentially looks and operates just like its chatbot rivals Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini—but, in typical Apple fashion, in dark mode.

Tim Cook’s swan song: Apple’s longtime CEO Tim Cook (Tim Apple, to some), will be transitioning into the role of executive chairman in September, which means Cook’s keynote on June 8 will likely be his final major presentation. Ternus, who will become Apple’s third-ever CEO after Steve Jobs and Cook, is inheriting a company still trying to prove its AI chops and a Siri overhaul two years in the making. (Not to mention taking over these 10 other new product categories, which we might see some of next week.)

Bottom line: The annual WWDC carries bigger weight this year—an AI reset, a strategic play, and a CEO farewell will set the tone for what comes next for one of the largest companies in the world. —LC

How to watch: The keynote kicks off at 1pm ET on Monday, June 8. Here’s how you can check it out.

Also at Apple…

• It approved Poke as the first AI agent that can text users through iMessage’s business platform.

Three prompts to nail your midyear review

Midyear reviews are underway. Whether you're prepping for your own or those of your direct reports, I've found AI can be useful—think less "write my self-evaluation for me" and more "a confidant who asks the hard questions and helps articulate the decision behind that one unfortunate product pivot." Here are three prompts to get you started:

1. Synthesize your thoughts before the conversation.

Start by getting everything out of your head and onto the table:

"Act as a critical but supportive career coach and help me prepare for my midyear review by asking me clarifying questions one at a time. I want to think through what I'm proud of, what I've struggled with, what I need more of, and any ideas or questions I want to raise. Cover things like: where my role creates the most leverage, what's been unclear or inefficient, and what would help me do my job better."

Once you've worked through the questions, ask it if there's anything else it thinks you're missing. When you're done, you can also ask it to turn the key points into a one-pager to share with your manager ahead of the meeting.

2. Practice the actual conversation.

After Step 1, ask your AI to flip roles:

"Now play my manager and ask me the kinds of questions they're likely to raise. Push back where my answers are vague."

If typing back and forth feels too much like a very intense Slack thread, try the voice feature instead so it feels more like a real conversation.

3. Build a running log for next time.

Set up a project (I covered those in the April 24 edition) and drop this in to get started:

"I want to use this chat as an ongoing log for my 1-on-1s with [manager/direct report]. Keep a running markdown doc organized by date that includes key takeaways, decisions made, and anything to follow up on. What's missing?"

That way, when review season rolls around again, you’ve already got the highlights in one place. —SM

The internet has found its latest irresistible conspiracy theory: whether the mayor of Flavortown is actually eating those mozzarella sticks on camera. It’s become a white whale for Twitch streamer Doctor Spaghetti, who contends that Guy Fieri never actually swallows any of the food on his show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

A sampling of the evidence: There’s no movement in his neck to indicate a swallow, the camera always cuts away mid-chew, and—the smoking gun—a 17-year-old episode shows Fieri pulling a spoon out of his mouth with food still on it. “Guy Fieri has deceived the American people,” declares Doctor Spaghetti. (See a compilation of evidence here.)

Doctor Spaghetti’s videos have now racked up roughly 1 million likes, and the reaction’s been a mix of delighted conviction and confusion at the idea that a famous culinary TV personality might have kept up such a facade. (As one commenter put it: “Diners, Drive-ins, and LIES??!!”)

But Fieri also has his defenders. One chef wrote in a comment, “I've filmed plenty of shows with him. He eats EVERYTHING.” But an eyewitness account is no match for the army of Fieri truthers that have now been activated. And Doctor Spaghetti’s actual ask is modest. “I'm just asking him to swallow something,” he said in a stream. —WK

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