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Apple CEO Tim Cook is a variety three-pack of Utah fry sauces richer after speaking at the 2021 Silicon Slopes Tech Summit in October.
Cook and Sen. Mike Lee participated in a fireside chat to kick off this year’s Silicon Slopes Tech Summit on Oct. 13, a convention designed to showcase Utah’s startup and tech sector community.
Inspired by California’s Silicon Valley appellation, Silicon Slopes is both an area near Lehi that is bristling with more than 6,500 tech firms and the name of a non-profit organization set up to serve that burgeoning business community. Backed by industry and government partners, the group hosts more than 200 annual events including the summit Cook attended last month.
During their chat, Cook and Lee discussed the usual assortment of topics that have become de rigueur for big tech execs visiting regional conferences. Beyond a nod to the importance of startups, Cook touched on privacy after a prompting from Lee, according to the Desert News. The Apple chief toed the company line, saying privacy is a fundamental human right and noted the specialized hardware and software features Apple bakes in to its products.
He also reiterated the company’s stance on backdoors into devices like iPhone, saying that acquiescence to law enforcement requests for built-in workarounds would only serve to weaken platform security.
“People say do it just for this government agency, but it’s not possible from an engineering standpoint,” Cook said, according to the report. “You can’t create a backdoor that’s just for the good guys.”
“I am writing you this quick note using the one device I can’t live without,” Lee writes, adding that he appreciated Cook’s words about Utah innovators. In a tongue-in-cheek reference to Apple’s latest M1 Pro and M1 Max silicon, Lee writes, “I am also aware that you’ve been serving up a batch of fresh chips. As we discussed on stage, in Utah we have something that goes well with chips, fries, or whatever else you’re dipping.”
A video produced to go along with the note shows Lee penning the handwritten letter and packing bottles of Arctic Circle, Hires Big H, and Stephen’s Gourmet fry sauce for shipment to Cupertino. Lee adds a postscript pitching “macOS Zion” as the ideal name for a future Mac operating system.
