Apple CEO John Ternus asked Software Chief Craig Federighi to speed up artificial intelligence development, according to Bloomberg’s Power On bulletin.
Ternus urged Federighi to produce more AI advancements in a shorter timeframe as the company faces mounting pressure to keep pace with industry rivals. AppleInsider reported that the Bloomberg bulletin also pointed to potential leadership shifts and executive departures, though those claims remain speculative.
Federighi’s team had already laid out plans within tight schedules prior to the request.
AppleInsider noted that the Bloomberg report does not fully capture internal conditions and advised treating claims from anonymous sources familiar with Apple’s operations with caution. This friction highlights ongoing debates among top executives regarding how quickly the company should scale its artificial intelligence roadmap.
Investors have pushed for more visible progress since Apple previewed Apple Intelligence features at the Worldwide Developers Conference in 2024, where several promised tools failed to arrive on schedule.
Apple’s artificial intelligence foundation traces back to 2018 when the company hired John Giannandrea from Google to direct machine learning efforts.
Giannandrea championed a strategy focused on high-performance hardware running smaller, localized AI models rather than massive data centers powered by thousands of graphics processing units. Apple Foundation Models handle tasks locally to prioritize user privacy and security. The company adjusted its approach after the 2024 developer conference, rebuilding Siri and incorporating Google’s Gemini model as a core foundation for an AI rollout planned for 2026.
Craig Federighi serves as Apple’s Head of Software, overseeing the development timelines that face recent acceleration requests from leadership.
Apple recruited John Giannandrea from Google in 2018 to direct artificial intelligence and machine learning strategies. Looking ahead, Apple utilizes Google’s Gemini model as a primary foundation for its updated artificial intelligence strategy slated for 2026.
Keep reading