Apple CEO John Ternus says the company won't release AI features just for the sake of having AI

In brief

• Apple's CEO says the company will not release AI features only to show it has AI, defending a slower approach.
• Analysts say Apple trails rivals, partly because the Siri upgrade was delayed.
• Apple reported fourth-quarter revenue of $114.48 billion but warned of narrower margins due to memory costs.

Apple's measured AI stance

Apple CEO John Ternus told Wired's Steven Levy in an interview published at the end of October that he does not want to release AI for its own sake. He said the company will use AI in its new products, but the aim is a result so polished that users do not have to think about whether AI is involved (Apple CEO John Ternus: "We Won't Ship AI for AI's Sake" — Confident Despite Being Seen as Behind – finance.biggo.com) (Apple CEO says the company doesn’t ‘want to ship AI for AI’s sake’ – TechCrunch). Ternus, who became CEO at the start of September, said he was happy with where Apple stands despite outside criticism that it has fallen behind.

Behind on Siri

The criticism has centred on Siri. Apple delayed a more capable version of its voice assistant, which launched only this summer, and that delay has fed the view that the company lags competitors such as Google and Microsoft.

Agents and the app ecosystem

Asked whether AI agents could eventually make apps less important, Ternus pushed back, stressing the human value in creating products. Apple's annual filing, made the day after its fourth-quarter results, also widened its warnings about AI agents that act autonomously, including ones that could access systems without permission or hide their actions (Apple warns rogue AI agents could ‘conceal’ and ‘manipulate,’ causing unintended consequences for its business – Fortune).

Earnings and cost pressure

Apple reported fourth-quarter revenue of $114.48 billion, above market expectations. Executives nonetheless warned of narrower margins next quarter, driven by memory chip prices that Ternus called unprecedented (Apple Says Even Higher Memory Prices and Siri AI Push Will Weigh On Profits – Gizmodo). The company's services revenue is still at record levels, but growth is slowing under regulatory pressure and weaker mobile gaming. On the earnings call, the chief financial officer said AI gives customers a reason to upgrade and opens opportunities with third-party apps, without giving details (Apple may try to increase revenue by doing…something with third-party AI apps – TechCrunch).