2026.17: He Came, He Saw, He Cooked

This Week in Stratechery 2026.17: He Came, He Saw, He Cooked (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Welcome back to This Week in Stratechery! As a reminder, each week, every Friday, we’re sending out this overview of content in the Stratechery bundle; highlighted links are free for everyone. Additionally, you have complete control over what we send to you. If you don’t want to receive This Week in Stratechery emails (there is no podcast), please uncheck the box in your delivery settings. On that note, here were a few of our favorites this week. The End of the Tim Cook Era. My son, who is old enough to be on a multi-day school trip to Washington D.C., messaged me in shock that Tim Cook would be stepping down as CEO of Apple this September: that, more than anything, made me realize just how long we have been in the Tim Cook era. He was Apple’s CEO longer than my son has been alive, and a year longer than Steve Jobs. That, needless to say, is worth reflection. — Ben Thompson On Stratechery, I wrote about Cook’s Impeccable Timing and, in an Update, why John Ternus makes sense as the next CEO On Sharp Text, Andrew wrote a fantastic reflection on how Cook’s competence was both correct and boring, and representative of the overall maturation of the tech industry. On Dithering, John and I published our instant reactions on Tuesday, and additional reflections on Friday. Can Cursor and SpaceX Join the Model Wars? When I first heard the news that SpaceX was partnering with Cursor (with an option to buy Cursor outright for $60 billion), my first reaction was to throw up my hands at the logic and broader plan. Forget it Jake, it’s Elontown, etc. That noted, I loved it when Ben’s Daily Update on Wednesday explained why, in theory, there is an obvious synergy between Cursor and SpaceX. Furthermore, I’m reminded that more AI competition would be a good thing, and for that reason alone I’m rooting for a deal like this to work. We went deeper on the topic during the second segment of Friday’s Sharp Tech, including bear and bull cases, and an attempt to nail down SpaceX’s core business as the company prepares to IPO and seeks a $1.75 trillion valuation. — Andrew Sharp The Various Fronts of Cold War 2.0. Most of our shows cover lots of ground, but this week’s episode of Sharp China was especially dense with updates and takes. The big news is that Xi is now publicly calling for the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz, while several reports indicate China may be providing weapons to the IRGC in the interim. Elsewhere, Beijing passed new laws to crack down on decoupling (Bill says these laws have interested parties “freaked out”), while the U.S. is considering legislation that would close global loopholes on the sale of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China. My favorite part, though, was a segment on a cake controversy, a physical altercation between Pinduoduo staff and Shanghai regulators, and Xinhua reporting that provides a fascinating look at how the Chinese economy works in 2026. — AS Stratechery Articles and Updates TSMC Earnings, New N3 Fabs, The Nvidia Ramp — TSMC’s earnings suggest that the company’s leadership is not truly bought into the AI growth story. Tim Cook’s Impeccable Timing — Tim Cook had an extraordinary run — and impeccable timing, both in terms of when he became CEO, and when he is stepping down. John Ternus and Apple’s Hardware-Defined Future, SpaceXAI and Cursor — The elevation of John Ternus suggests that Apple’s…

This excerpt is published under fair use for community discussion. Read the full article at Stratechery by Ben Thompson.