Apple's chief executive has pushed back against the notion that the company is falling behind in the artificial intelligence race, arguing instead that the priority should be building features that genuinely improve the user experience rather than deploying AI simply to keep pace with competitors.

In a recent conversation with journalist Steven Levy published in Wired, Apple CEO John Ternus addressed the criticism that has followed the company over the past few years regarding its perceived slowness in embracing AI. Apple drew particular scrutiny for delays to a more capable version of Siri, an upgraded iteration of the voice assistant that only became available to users this past summer.

Ternus, who stepped into the chief executive role officially at the start of September after a long tenure as one of Apple's most senior executives, did not dismiss the commentary outright. He acknowledged that "everyone has an opinion" on the matter, but made clear he remains confident in the direction the company has chosen. "I really like where we're at," he said.

Purposeful Integration Over AI for Its Own Sake

Central to Ternus's position is the idea that AI should serve a meaningful function within Apple's products rather than being incorporated as a marketing talking point. He confirmed that Apple is "absolutely going to leverage AI" across its lineup, but drew a clear distinction between thoughtful implementation and what he described as shipping "AI for AI's sake."

His comments reflect a philosophy that has long been associated with Apple's product development approach - one that places the end-user experience above the adoption of technology for its own sake. According to Ternus, when Apple gets it right, users should not need to think about the underlying technology at all. "People won't have to think about whether it was AI that made this happen or more traditional software," he said. "What matters is, did we build something that they really love?"

This framing positions Apple's measured approach not as a weakness or a lag, but as a deliberate strategy aimed at ensuring that new capabilities are meaningful and well-integrated before they reach consumers. It also reflects a broader tension in the technology industry, where companies face pressure to ship AI-powered features quickly while also being held accountable when those features underperform or feel underdeveloped.

On the Future of Apps and AI Agents

The interview also touched on a broader and more speculative question circulating across the technology sector - whether the rise of AI agents could eventually render traditional software applications unnecessary. The premise is that sufficiently capable AI systems might handle tasks end-to-end, potentially bypassing the need for discrete apps altogether.

When Levy raised this possibility and asked whether such a shift could have a dramatic effect on Apple and its wider ecosystem, Ternus responded with a measured but telling answer. "That could make life really easy, I suppose," he said, before adding, "but the creation of products is a deeply human and personal thing, something that we love to do."

The remark suggests that while Ternus does not rule out significant change in how users interact with technology, he views the act of building products as something that retains inherent human value - regardless of how capable AI systems become. It also signals that Apple is unlikely to abandon its product-first identity even as the broader industry continues to experiment with agentic AI systems that could reshape how software is designed and used.

Apple's position in the AI space continues to attract scrutiny from analysts and observers who compare its pace of development to that of rivals such as Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI. However, Ternus's comments indicate the company intends to stay the course, prioritizing quality and user relevance over speed to market.