Apple's new CEO, John Ternus, says the company will use AI heavily in upcoming products but will not treat it as a gimmick. He also said Apple is prioritizing on-device processing and privacy.
John Ternus defended Apple's position in the AI race in an interview with Wired's Steven Levy. He argued that Apple will use AI heavily in its products while refusing to treat it as a gimmick.
Ternus draws a line on how AI ships
Ternus told Levy that Apple will lean on AI in its upcoming products. He also set a limit on how the company deploys it. According to Ternus: "We don’t want to ship AI for AI’s sake."
He also pushed back on the idea that AI agents could take over the core of what Apple does. Ternus described building products as fundamentally human and personal, and said software that writes code or generates designs does not replace the judgment behind a good product.
Apple is described as trailing on AI, with Siri the biggest evidence
For the past couple of years, Apple has been widely described as trailing its rivals on AI, with Siri as the biggest piece of evidence. Apple delayed a more capable version of its voice assistant, and the upgraded Siri did not arrive until this summer.
Ternus's answer is that Apple was never trying to win the same race as everyone else. Instead of competing head-on with the leading AI developers, the company is folding intelligence into apps and features people already use.
On-device processing and privacy
Apple is prioritizing on-device processing, so more computation happens on the phone or laptop rather than on remote servers. Ternus framed privacy and user benefit as central to how Apple thinks about AI, and he signaled a commitment to cybersecurity.
Ternus took over as Apple's CEO on September 1, 2026, after Tim Cook's departure. He previously served as senior vice president of hardware engineering.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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