Apple CEO John Ternus says Apple will use AI to build its products but will not ship AI for its own sake, setting out a product-first position less than two months into the job. Ternus made the comments in an interview published October 30, recorded at Apple's Los Angeles launch event for its touchscreen MacBook Pro.
Ternus, 51, has spent 25 years at Apple. He took over as CEO from Tim Cook on September 1, and Cook now serves as executive chairman.
Ternus said Apple is "absolutely going to" use AI in building its products. The test he set out is whether people love what Apple ships, not whether AI or conventional software is doing the work behind a given feature.
“When we're doing it right, people won't have to think about whether it was AI that made this happen”— John Ternus, CEO of Apple
Key facts
- 01Apple CEO John Ternus said Apple doesn't want to ship AI for AI's sake in an interview published October 30.
- 02Ternus, 51, succeeded Tim Cook as CEO on September 1; Cook is now Apple's executive chairman.
- 03Ternus said Apple is "absolutely going to" use AI to build its products.
- 04He did not say whether he supports AI regulation, pointing instead to security and protecting user data.
- 05Apple's October 27 Creator Studio update adds AI assistants to Keynote, Pages and Numbers, with releases starting in November.
The remarks land as Apple has been seen as behind in the AI race, particularly after it delayed a more powerful version of Siri, which launched over the summer. Ternus acknowledged that "everyone has an opinion" about where Apple stands, and said he likes the company's position.
Asked whether AI agents that complete tasks automatically could make apps unnecessary, Ternus said that could make life really easy. He added that the creation of products is a deeply human and personal thing, and something Apple loves to do.
Ternus did not say whether he supports AI regulation. He said he reads stories on the subject from a cybersecurity standpoint, and that the models are clearly very capable of doing things.
“Our focus is on making sure that our products are secure and safe, and protecting the users' information”— John Ternus, CEO of Apple
Apple's AI product work is moving alongside the interview. On October 27, Apple announced that Creator Studio will support external AI tools that can read content, edit it and automate actions in Keynote, Pages and Numbers, along with beta assistants and image-generation tools, with releases starting in November.
Ternus also addressed the leadership handoff. He said Cook is available to help wherever he asks, and described himself as a student of Steve Jobs' teachings despite only a handful of interactions with Jobs. Johny Srouji, Apple's chief hardware officer, called Ternus "a product guy at heart."
Ternus has separately told TIME that the memory chip shortage is a crisis, and he was reported in September to be cutting managers so Apple can ship products faster.
Working on something we should cover, or seeing a story we missed? Send leads, documents, or feedback to hello@aichatdaily.com. For sensitive tips, see our secure tips page for Signal and PGP options.
Spotted an error? Email hello@aichatdaily.com with the URL and the issue, or read our full corrections policy.
