Apple CEO Ternus Backs iPhone as Premier AI Device

John Ternus is taking charge of Apple as the company seeks to defend an ecosystem built around the iPhone while closing its gap in generative artificial intelligence. Apple Intelligence has yet to deliver fully on the capabilities and timetable the company promoted, leaving the new chief executive under pressure to show that Apple can turn its control of hardware, software and services into a credible AI strategy.

Ternus is set to lead his first product event as CEO, with scrutiny extending beyond the new devices to Apple Intelligence’s performance and rollout schedule. The rise of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT is also challenging conventional web search, potentially weakening the lucrative default-search arrangements embedded across Apple devices. The report did not specify an event date, product prices or a new financial figure for the search agreements.

John Ternus has taken over as Apple’s chief executive as the iPhone maker seeks to close a widening gap in generative artificial intelligence. He inherits a strategy that leans on outside partners, including Google, rather than relying solely on Apple-built models. The approach is central to a long-delayed Siri overhaul and could reshape how Apple differentiates its devices and services while preserving the margins underpinning its hardware-led business.

Ternus’s first major test will come at Apple’s September product event, when the revamped Siri is set to face public scrutiny. Apple is paying Google about $1 billion a year to use Gemini to power the assistant. While the partnership could accelerate deployment, expanding AI features across Apple’s installed base may leave the company with a steep, recurring bill for cloud infrastructure and inference capacity.