Apple's new chief presses software head to speed up AI push, Bloomberg reports

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Apple chief executive John Ternus has told software chief Craig Federighi to speed up the company's artificial intelligence roadmap, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, in one of the new chief executive's first visible interventions in the product pipeline. Gurman reported in his Power On newsletter on Sunday that Ternus raised the issue with Federighi in a closed-door meeting in recent weeks, pressing him to move beyond the improvements already planned for Siri and pursue more ambitious AI features.

The report describes Ternus as frustrated with what he sees as Apple's reluctance to embrace AI with the same urgency as its rivals. Federighi, who took over Apple's AI effort after the departure of its previous AI leader last year, has been viewed inside the company as a sceptic of the technology, with concerns about its effects on privacy, security, society and employment. Ternus succeeded Tim Cook as chief executive on 1 September, and the meeting is among his earliest reported moves to set the pace of development.

The most concrete ambition in the report is turning Siri into an assistant that acts more like an agent, carrying out multi-step tasks in the background with less input from the user. Siri received significant AI upgrades with iOS 27, released in beta on 14 September, and Apple opened the assistant to developers through app skills in the iOS 27.3 betas on 3 November. Gurman wrote that he believes Apple could make Siri more agent-like as early as next year, with first-party app control expected to reach the public with iOS 27.3 in December.

What is solid here is the reporting itself and what Apple has said on the record. Multiple outlets describe the same Gurman newsletter, the same meeting and the same push, and Ternus described agentic AI capabilities as promising on his first earnings call as chief executive on 2 November. What is not established is anything Apple has confirmed: the company has not commented on the meeting, the reported frustration, or any timetable for an agentic Siri, and the 2027 timing is Gurman's expectation rather than a company announcement. AppleInsider, covering the same report, argued it should be taken with a grain of salt.

Gurman also reported that Mike Rockwell, who took over Siri in March 2025 after leading the Vision Pro headset, is seriously considering leaving his role or Apple altogether next year. If he leaves, his responsibilities could reportedly pass to Amar Subramanya, a former Google executive who joined Apple last year, and Sebastien Marineau, one of Federighi's deputies. Apple has not confirmed any of this, and the report does not say Federighi will leave his post.

Alongside the AI push, Gurman reported that Apple is changing how it builds software ahead of iOS 28, giving engineers about 50 percent more time to code and explore and less time on integration, as coding agents improve. The aim is to let teams develop ideas more thoroughly before they are added to releases, and employees have reportedly responded positively. Federighi tends to plan 12 to 18 months ahead, while hardware teams work on multi-year roadmaps, a gap Ternus is said to want closed. No new feature or release date has been confirmed as a result of these discussions.