Ives, who touts himself as Wall Street’s best-dressed man, often refers to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as “the Godfather of AI” but now thinks Cook, who is yet to have an AI product on the market, might share that title.   

Speaking on CNBC’s “Power Lunch,” Ives argued that Apple is on the brink of an AI supercycle that will make it the face of the AI revolution for consumers.

“I think for Apple right now, they’re at the top of the mountain because it’s their castle,” Ives said.

Yep, it is starting to look like analysts and the Tame Apple Press are starting to believe that Apple invented AI even though all we have seen from Jobs’ Mob is new AI-powered features at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at the beginning of the month.

Following WWDC, several analysts lifted price targets on Apple stock, highlighting the company’s massive active installed base of more than 2.2 billion iOS devices.

Now the Tame Apple Press claims these new AI-powered devices will drive a significant upgrade cycle this year.

He told CNBC Apple is “playing chess while others play checkers.”

Ive said that AI will be delivered to the consumer through Apple. The company is likely to sign deals with multiple leading AI companies and act as a gatekeeper for AI technology, he said, adding that Apple also owns the App Store, where anyone building an AI tool will make it available.

“Because right now you are on the outside of this party that Apple is going to run, and when you think about the AI revolution … it’s 9 pm in an AI party that we see going to 4 am,” Ives said.

Ives believes that Apple’s “golden” installed base, combined with its App Store dominance, is worth between $30 and $40 per share alone.

“This is the start of a renaissance of growth … A year from now, I think we are looking at a $4 trillion market cap for Apple,” the Wedbush analyst said.

Ives believes Apple stock is on its way to between $275 and $300 per share as more companies call Cupertino, looking to integrate AI tools into Apple devices.

“There’s the Godfather of AI in the enterprise—that’s Jensen Huang and Nvidia. On the consumer side, it could be Cook,” Ives said.