Apple CEO John Ternus rejects AI for its own sake in new interview

Apple CEO John Ternus wants customers to judge the result, not the technology behind it. In an October 30, 2026 interview with WIRED’s Steven Levy, he said Apple would use AI to build useful products while resisting AI for its own sake—and defended human product creation when challenged about agents replacing apps.

A defense, not a reset

The exchange came less than two months into Ternus’s tenure as chief executive. A 25-year Apple veteran, he presented himself to Levy as a leader of continuity rather than someone arriving to overhaul the company. He repeatedly redirected questions about his personal mark on Apple toward its commitment to internal collaboration.

Levy put two competing accounts of Apple’s AI position to him. In one, Siri’s troubled development had left Apple playing catch-up even after an update. In the other, avoiding the expense of developing a frontier model—an AI model at the leading edge—and weaving AI into products with a privacy focus would pay off over time.

“Everyone has an opinion—I really like where we’re at,” Ternus replied. He said the company’s work was to build products that improve people’s lives, and that AI would be part of that work.

Levy’s harder question: what if apps disappear?

Levy next challenged the assumption beneath that answer: that AI would become another technology inside the existing world of devices and software. He raised a more disruptive possibility, in which AI agents generated from prompts, or operating autonomously, take over the functions of apps.

Ternus answered by emphasizing the people who make products. “That could make life really easy, I suppose, but the creation of products is a deeply human and personal thing, something that we love to do,” he said.

Security commitments, without a regulation position

Asked whether he supported AI regulation, Ternus pointed instead to cybersecurity and the capabilities of AI models. He said Apple’s focus was keeping its products “secure and safe” and protecting users’ information. He did not state whether he favored regulation.