Apple's new CEO Ternus pressures Federighi, demanding Siri be built into an AI agent

Apple's AI is in full panic mode! The new CEO pressured executives on the spot, ready to get tough with Siri Jaygee 11 minutes ago Apple has finally come to its senses.

Recently, a leak from an Apple internal closed-door meeting surfaced: John Ternus, who had just taken over as CEO not long ago, laid his cards on the table and pressured software chief Federighi in front of management. The gist was: stop the slow, incremental drip-feed; Apple's AI must be pursued boldly.

Image source: Weibo

And look how little time has passed before the internal direction made a complete 180-degree turn.

It is said that at this meeting, Ternus laid out the key point for Federighi: the software team's core goal going forward is just one thing—turn Siri into a true AI agent with autonomous execution capabilities.

Anyone familiar with Apple knows that Federighi is the soul of iOS and macOS, and for all these years he has basically controlled the pace of Apple's software updates.

The goal is also obvious: benchmark against mature AI agent products already running on the market, such as ChatGPT Dots and Meta Muse. Put plainly, Apple does not want to slowly explore and trial-and-error this time; it is fixing its sights directly on the industry's first tier and striving to close the gap as quickly as possible.

But while the idea is beautiful, putting it into practice is not so easy. Ternus's aggressive plan is now facing a double test internally, and whether it can proceed smoothly really is a question mark.

Image source: Weibo

Xiao Lei thinks Apple's current passivity is entirely the result of its own earlier slowness.

To be fair, the AI agent direction is not something the industry started talking about yesterday; since last year many products have gradually launched, and user acceptance has grown higher and higher. Apple clearly has technology, an ecosystem, and money, yet it clung to the old Siri mindset, with updates every year and no progress every year, dragging itself from industry leader to chaser.

Many people say Apple does not act unless it acts, and when it does, it stuns. But in the AI race, the industry iterates too fast; being one step late may mean missing an entire era. By the time you polish a product to what you consider perfect, the market and user habits may already have been captured by others. Ternus's urgent pivot essentially means he has realized this problem:

Wait any longer, and there will not even be scraps left.

It is worth noting, however, that Apple has an unavoidable issue: privacy. Apple treats privacy protection as a core selling point, while improving AI capabilities is inseparable from training on user data. How to raise AI capabilities without touching user privacy is a considerable test for Apple. If it smashes its own privacy signboard in order to do AI, the loss would outweigh the gain.

Image source: Weibo

Xiao Lei Bibi (ID: xiaoleibbb) believes Ternus's move also carries the implication of a new official establishing authority. Having just taken over as CEO, he needs a big move he can show off, and AI is the best lever. As for whether it ultimately becomes real bold reform or much thunder and little rain, that will depend on how subsequent products land.

Source: Leikeji

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