In a recent interview with Wired journalist Steven Levy, Apple CEO John Ternus defended the company’s current standing in the field of artificial intelligence.
Over the past few years, Apple has frequently been perceived as lagging behind in AI—a sentiment fueled in part by the delayed release of a more capable version of Siri, which finally launched this summer. While acknowledging that “everyone has their own opinion,” Ternus—a long-time Apple executive who officially stepped into the role of CEO in early September—insisted, “I’m very happy with where we are.”
Ternus added that Apple will “absolutely leverage AI in new products,” but emphasized, “We don’t want to do AI just for the sake of AI. If we do it right, people shouldn’t have to think about whether a feature is powered by AI or by more traditional software. The real question is: have we created something that people truly love?”
When Levy pressed further, asking whether AI might have a more profound impact on Apple and its ecosystem—for instance, through the emergence of “agents” that could render traditional apps obsolete—Ternus replied, “I suppose that could make life very easy, but the creation of products is a deeply human and personal endeavor—it’s something we love to do.”