Apple CEO Ternus demands bold AI push, driving Siri's transformation into autonomous agents

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A second fire from the new official? Apple CEO demands a "bold AI layout" to push Siri's transformation into an autonomous agent

STAR Market Daily Zhang Zhen, Editor Ji Sheng 2026-11-09 11:05

① Ternus recently held a closed-door meeting with Federighi, urging the latter to "quickly move beyond the stage of merely making necessary improvements to Siri"; ② He admitted that Siri is still mainly focused on responding to user requests, but has left room for future expansion of agentic capabilities; ③ Tech reporter Gurman said Apple could launch a new version of Siri with agentic capabilities as early as next year.

STAR Market Daily, November 9 — After entering the foldable race, John Ternus has ignited the "second fire" since taking over as Apple CEO. Under pressure from falling behind in the AI race, he is pressing software chief Craig Federighi to adopt a bolder AI strategy and is committed to turning Siri into an AI agent capable of autonomously executing tasks.

According to media reports, Ternus recently held a closed-door meeting with Federighi, in which the former expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of Apple's AI projects and urged the latter to "quickly move beyond the stage of merely making necessary improvements to Siri."

This sense of urgency stems from Apple's current lagging position in the AI race. At this stage, Siri AI has capabilities such as Q&A, writing emails, setting reminders, searching for information online, and basic in-app operations, but tech reporter Mark Gurman pointed out that these capabilities still lag significantly behind mature AI agents on the market.

At last week's earnings call, Ternus also admitted that Siri is still mainly focused on responding to user requests, but its modern orchestrator-driven architecture has left room for future expansion of agentic capabilities.

Gurman said Apple could launch a new version of Siri with agentic capabilities as early as next year to compete with rivals such as ChatGPT Dots, Meta Muse, and Grok. The goal is no longer just to passively respond to commands, but to build an AI assistant that can proactively manage tasks and get things done for users.

It is worth noting that Ternus had previously always maintained a cautious stance on artificial intelligence. In an interview with Wired magazine on October 30, he said, "We don't want to ship AI for AI's sake." Apple will embrace AI, but does not believe it should put it into products simply because the technology is trending.

As the senior head of Apple's AI and Siri business, Federighi is accustomed to deep involvement in meetings and major decisions, relying on his grasp of technical details and debating skills to rebut proposals he disagrees with. Gurman analyzed that the roadmaps he sets usually cover only the next 12 to 18 months, while Apple's hardware division is accustomed to planning years in advance. This mismatch in software and hardware rhythms, on the one hand, drags down overall development progress, and on the other hand, easily leads first-generation products to be conservative in features and design.

Uncertainty on the personnel front is also intensifying. According to reports, Mike Rockwell, head of Apple Vision Pro and head of Siri AI development, is still seriously considering resigning, or may step down next year from the position of vice president of Siri engineering, or even leave Apple. If he ultimately departs, it would be a major loss for Apple's AI layout.

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Cailian Press statement: The content of this article is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice. Investors who act on it do so at their own risk.

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