John Ternus, who became Apple CEO about two months ago, made clear in an interview with Wired that Apple does not intend to join the AI spending race at any cost. According to TechCrunch, Ternus said Apple is "absolutely going to leverage AI" in its new products, but only where it improves the experience, not "AI for AI's sake".
Agents instead of apps?
Asked whether AI agents could make apps obsolete, Ternus said it might simplify life, but that creating products is "a deeply human and personal thing". He said he is not worried about Apple's standing in the field, and when asked whether he supports AI regulation, he gave no direct answer, pointing instead to security. At his September keynote Ternus argued that the iPhone is still the best AI device, stressing privacy as the key difference from rivals.
The timing
The interview comes in a week when investors sent a clear message: Alphabet, Amazon and Nvidia fell on concerns about huge infrastructure spending, and Apple, which spends far less, again became the world's most valuable company. What until recently was seen as Apple's weakness suddenly looks like discipline.
Tomorrow: results
Apple reports quarterly results tomorrow, and investors will look for signs that the cautious approach is not hurting sales. Meanwhile, Apple is advancing the launch of Apple Intelligence in China, in partnership with Alibaba's Qwen model, to meet Chinese regulatory requirements.
