Apple CEO John Ternus says the company intends to use AI in new products, while making the experience itself the priority. In a recent interview with Wired’s Steven Levy, Ternus defended Apple’s position in the AI landscape and described what he thinks should matter when the company builds with the technology.
AI should have a purpose
Ternus said Apple is “absolutely going to leverage AI” in its new products. But he also drew a line between using AI to improve a product and adding it simply because the technology is attracting attention.
“We don’t want to ship AI for AI’s sake,” he said. In his view, people should not have to work out which technology produced a useful result. Whether AI or more traditional software was involved matters less than whether Apple built something people love.
That approach puts the finished experience at the center of the question. AI can be part of how a product works, but Ternus’s remarks suggest it should not be the product’s main purpose by itself. The value has to be apparent in what people can do with it.
Apple’s place in the AI conversation
Over the past couple years, Apple has often been described as behind on AI. The source points to a delay in releasing a more powerful version of Siri, which finally launched this summer, as part of that discussion.
Ternus acknowledged that “everyone has an opinion” about Apple’s position, but said, “I really like where we’re at.” His comments do not dismiss the debate over how the company compares with others. They instead explain how he wants Apple to approach the technology: use it in new products, while judging the result by whether people value it.
The distinction matters because the public conversation can focus on whether a company is adopting AI quickly. Ternus’s answer shifts attention to what the technology does for the person using a product. By that measure, the presence of AI alone is not proof that a product is better.
Could agents change the role of apps?
Levy also asked whether AI might affect Apple and its ecosystem more dramatically, including the possibility that agents could make things like apps unnecessary. Ternus responded that such a change “could make life really easy, I suppose,” but emphasized the human side of making products.
“The creation of products is a deeply human and personal thing, something that we love to do,” he said. His response leaves room for AI agents to make some tasks easier while expressing a continuing commitment to product creation as a human activity.
The exchange points to two questions raised by AI agents. One is whether they can simplify how people get things done. The other is what that simplification might mean for the products and ecosystem people use. Ternus’s answer speaks directly to the first possibility, but also stresses that making products is something Apple values in itself.
The measure is what people love
Ternus’s comments offer a clear standard for Apple’s AI work: the technology should contribute to products people want to use. He says the company will use AI, but does not treat AI adoption as an end in itself. The distinction leaves the focus on usefulness and the overall experience.
For Apple, that means its AI direction can be assessed not only by what features it releases, but by whether those features help create products people love. Ternus did not lay out a detailed roadmap in the interview excerpt. He did, however, describe the principle he says should guide the work: people should care about what the product lets them do, not whether AI was behind it.