Artificial Intelligence1 min read

Apple CEO says the company doesn’t ‘want to ship AI for AI’s sake’

By · Via TechCrunch · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Apple CEO John Ternus pushed back on claims that the company lags behind rivals, expressing confidence in its current industry standing. He stressed that Apple will deploy AI into upcoming products only when it genuinely enhances what consumers love, regardless of whether they recognize the underlying tech. Addressing concerns about AI agents potentially displacing apps, Ternus affirmed that creating hardware and software remains a deeply personal, human-driven endeavor.

Key points

  • Apple prioritizes end-user experience over promoting artificial intelligence as a standal…: Apple prioritizes end-user experience over promoting artificial intelligence as a standalone marketing feature.
  • Future products will incorporate AI seamlessly so customers do not have to distinguish it…: Future products will incorporate AI seamlessly so customers do not have to distinguish it from standard software.
  • The company maintains that human-led development will persist even if automated AI agents…: The company maintains that human-led development will persist even if automated AI agents threaten traditional apps.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

During a recent interview with Wired’s Steven Levy, Apple CEO John Ternus defended the company’s current position in the AI landscape.

Over the past couple years, Apple has often been described as behind on AI, especially as it delayed the release of a more powerful version of Siri, which finally launched this summer. But while Ternus — a longtime Apple executive who officially became CEO at the beginning of September — acknowledged that “everyone has an opinion,” he insisted, “I really like where we’re at.”

Ternus added that Apple is “absolutely going to leverage AI” in its new products, but he said, “We don’t want to ship AI for AI’s sake. When we’re doing it right, people won’t have to think about whether it was AI that made this happen or more traditional software. What matters is, did we build something that they really love?”

And when Levy pressed him on whether AI might affect Apple and its ecosystem more dramatically, with agents potentially making things like apps unnecessary, Ternus replied,”That could make life really easy, I suppose, but the…

Artificial Intelligence