New Apple CEO hopes for "almost unlimited potential" through AI

Apple is getting employees on track following the announced leadership change. “I am telling you we are about to change the world once again,” emphasized Apple's future CEO John Ternus in an internal all-hands meeting, as financial news agency Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Ternus, currently head of hardware, will succeed Tim Cook as head of the company in September, as Apple announced late Monday night.

Tim Cook to remain at Apple for a long time

There is an “incredible roadmap” for Apple products, Ternus promised. He also hopes for artificial intelligence: “AI will create almost unlimited potential,” said the engineer. This will open up “completely new opportunities” for Apple products. Details on the use of AI were not provided.

Apple appears to be urgently retraining teams internally on AI tools and workflows; the Siri team must go to AI bootcamp, it was recently reported. Two years ago, Apple demonstrated major new AI capabilities for Siri but has not yet been able to deliver them. The company must rely on third-party technology for the underlying infrastructure. Language models from Google's Gemini series will form the basis in the future. The company is likely to reveal what this specifically means for Siri and Apple Intelligence at the WWDC developer conference in June.

Tim Cook emphasized to employees that he is “healthy” and intends to stay at Apple for a long time. Starting in September, Cook will become “Executive Chairman” on Apple's board of directors and plans to dedicate himself to “political decision-makers around the world.” This certainly includes US President Donald Trump, who expressed his pleasure on Tuesday that Cook likes to call him to “kiss his ass.” He will also support Ternus in his new CEO role, Cook said.

Apple's Hardware Division to be Restructured

Apple's leadership has been undergoing a major transition for months – partly due to age, partly due to the expected CEO change. Further changes are therefore imminent. The de facto second most powerful manager behind Ternus will be Apple's chip chief Johny Srouji: He will take over as “Chief Hardware Officer,” leading the entire hardware division, which includes iPhones, Macs, iPads & Co., in addition to chip development, research in core technologies, platform architectures, and project management.

Other managers, such as Mike Rockwell, currently tasked with the long-overdue renewal of Siri, are reportedly “thinking about their future,” according to Bloomberg. Retaining capable executives within the company is considered one of Ternus’s biggest challenges.

(lbe)