Apple CEO Rejects Shipping AI for Its Own Sake

Nov 1, 2026
Apple CEO John Ternus says the company will use AI in new products but will focus on useful features rather than promoting the technology itself.
Apple CEO Rejects Shipping AI for Its Own Sake
Image: Amy Osborne / European Union

Apple Inc. CEO John Ternus defended the company's position in AI in an interview with Wired's Steven Levy, TechCrunch reports. Ternus, a longtime Apple executive, officially became CEO at the beginning of September.

Apple has often been described as behind on AI, especially after it delayed a more powerful version of Siri, which launched this summer. Ternus acknowledged that "everyone has an opinion" but said, "I really like where we're at."

He said Apple is "absolutely going to leverage AI" in new products. "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," he said.

Asked whether AI agents could make apps unnecessary, Ternus said: "That could make life really easy, I suppose, but the creation of products is a deeply human and personal thing, something that we love to do."

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