Apple CEO John Ternus Says ‘I Really Like Where We're At’ in AI Race: Won't ‘Ship AI for AI's Sake’

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO John Ternus has defended the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, pushing back on criticism that the iPhone maker has fallen behind competitors in the AI race.

In a recent interview with WIRED’s Steven Levy, Ternus acknowledged differing opinions about Apple’s AI progress but said, "I really like where we’re at."

Apple has often been described as behind on AI over the past couple of years. It delayed a more powerful version of Siri, which began rolling out in September. Ternus, a longtime Apple executive, became CEO at the beginning of September.

Apple Rejects ‘AI for AI’s Sake’ Approach

Ternus said Apple will "absolutely" use AI in its new products, according to WIRED. But he drew a line on how.

"We don’t want to ship AI for AI’s sake," he said. "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."

His test is whether Apple built "something that they really love," he told WIRED.

When Levy pressed Ternus on whether AI agents could make apps unnecessary, Ternus replied, "That could make life really easy, I suppose." But he added that creating products is "a deeply human and personal thing, something that we love to do."

Trading Metrics

Apple has a market capitalization of about $5.03 trillion. Over the past 52 weeks, its stock has traded as high as $351.73 and as low as $243.42.

AAPL has a Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 55.35.

Over the past 12 months, the large-cap tech stock has gained 26.98%.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect