It sounds so good, doesnt it? After Apple CEO Tim Cook met with US President Donald J. Trump, Cook announced: We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and were proud tobuild on our long-standing US investments with this $500 billion commitmentto our countrys future. Well keep working with people and companies across this country to help write an extraordinary new chapter in the history of American innovation.Trump smooched back on Truth Social: APPLE HAS JUST ANNOUNCEDA RECORD 500 BILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENTIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THE REASON, FAITH IN WHAT WE ARE DOING, WITHOUT WITCH, THEY WOULDNT BE INVESTING TEN CENTS. THANK YOU TIM COOK AND APPLE!!!(All the caps and typos are original, by the way.)So, whats not to like about Apples plans to hire 20,000 employees over the next four years? Well, a lot. You see, weve heard this same song and dance before.This isnt the first time Apple has made such promises. In 2018, during the first Trump administration,Apple pledged to create 20,000 new jobs as part of a $350 billion investmentin the US economy. Then in 2021, with Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the White House, Apple once more promised 20,000 new jobs as part of a $430 billion investment. Do you begin to detect a pattern here?This is now the third time, Apple has promised 20,000 more jobs.A big part of the 2021 promise was that Apple would build a new campus and engineering hub in North Carolinas Research Triangle Park. Didnt happen.Apple never even broke dirt for the project and now says it will be at least four more years before it starts building a new campus.That will be just in time forKing Donald the Firsts crowning (or a new President, if we get our act together). Be that as it may, I expect Apple to keep promising more investments and, yes, more jobs. After all, it draws positive headlines.The reality is that since Apple first promised 40,000 new jobs, it has added about 30,000 or so. This came after a slight Apple employment dip in 2023.Now, new jobs are always welcome especially, since these days,the unemployment rate has been edging upward. And thats before Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) started taking a chainsaw to government employment. You can expectunemployment to return to the highs it saw when Trump was last President, shortly.If youre in the tech industry, things have been even worse. According to Crunchbases tally, at least95,000 workersat U.S.-based tech companies were laid off in mass job cuts in 2024and the cuts have continued into 2025.So, while Im cynical about Apples claims, I will give the execs at Apples headquarters at Apple Park credit for actually boosting employment.After all, as Paul Farnsworth, President of the top tech job siteDice, told me: Apple has spent years hiring engineers and researchers tasked with helping the company develop an AI strategy that aligns with its broader corporate goals.Andrea Derler, principal of research and value atVisier, the enterprise human-resources company, added in an e-mail: This initiative reflects Apples clear growth strategy and provides a glimpse into the future in which human skills such as creativity, curiosity, courage, compassion and communication will be key amidst the AI revolution. Defer continued: Skills churn is very high in the IT field. The lag between newly emerging tech skills gaps and existing talent cant only be solved with hiring external talent because its expensive. This is where upskilling and reskilling existing talent becomes critical to solving the AI talent gap.ButwillApple be hiring or training new AI-savvy staffers?Although Apple seemed to hold back on AI investment while its rivals rushed ahead with big, splashy investments in data centers and AI teams, Tim Cooks recent announcement of a $500 billion commitment to manufacturing AI servers and other initiatives hints at accelerating AI expenditure, which will inevitably include personnel hiring, Farnsworth said.Im not convinced. Sure, Apple will invest in AI. But Cook and company dont seem to want to join Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI inthe race to be the first to create truly useful generative AI. Instead,recent Apple leaks about its AI plansmake it sound like what Apple wants to do is improve its iPhone and other end-user clients such as Siri with AI. Whether Apple or someone else ends up making the large language model (LLM) that powers its clients doesnt seem that important to Apple.So, I dont see the $500 billion/20,000 jobs announcement as big news. Its just business as usual for Apple. If you look closer, youll also see that some of these new AI investments arent really Apples at all.Take, for example, the companys latest investment plans for a Houston server production factory to be operated by Apple and partners. Thatpartner is almost certainly Hon Hai Precision Industry, aka Foxconn, for an already announcedAI server research and development center in Houston.Foxconn, where have we heard that name before? Oh, right! Back in 2018,Trump and Foxconn announced a $10-billion dealwith 13,000 jobs for a new factory complex in Wisconsin.Guess what happened? Next to nothing. Today, the Eighth Wonder of the World is a local joke with no more than 1,000 employees. It appears, you canrent what is at the heart of the sitefor a banquet if you want.So, yeah, Apple is hiring more people. Thats great. Keep up the good work. But, please, this is not Big News. Nor is it a sign that Apple is going all-in on AI. Its not. Its just another day of Apple trying to make a buck.Psssst, wanna buy aniPhone?