Apple CEO urges faster Siri AI agent development despite internal caution

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple’s recently appointed chief executive, John Ternus, is internally driving the company to intensify its artificial intelligence strategy.reported This includes a specific directive to transform Siri into a fully functional AI agent rather than merely a voice assistant.The new Apple boss wants Siri to do more tasks automatically, pushing engineers to work faster.Internal friction at Apple between the CEO and software engineering head centres on accelerating Siri’s transition to an agentic architecture.

The evidence

According to Gurman, Ternus is publicly satisfied with the recent Siri AI launch but privately frustrated by the pace of development.reported He is encouraging Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice-president of software engineering, to accelerate the company’s roadmap beyond basic improvements. The tension reportedly stems from Federighi’s established reputation as a sceptic of artificial intelligence, contrasting with Ternus’s desire for urgency comparable to competitors.

The decision

The internal push aims to move Siri towards agentic behaviour, where the assistant can proactively manage tasks. Gurman notes that Siri’s current ability to automatically fix weak passwords already demonstrates some agentic characteristics, though this functionality has its own security considerations. The goal is to bridge the gap between current capabilities and the more autonomous agents offered by other technology firms.

What to make of it

Apple’s current Siri AI is not yet on par with agents from companies that prioritise artificial intelligence, such as those offering code writing or task organisation. Competitors like Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenClaw are presented as highly functional, while others like Google’s Gemini Spark are still maturing. Apple’s hardware is well-suited for local AI models, yet the software development pace has remained slower than that of rivals.

In practice

For startup founders, this internal shift suggests Apple may soon release more autonomous software features that could impact user engagement metrics. However, the current Siri AI remains a standard voice assistant with limited agentic scope, meaning immediate integration opportunities for third-party developers are constrained. Users benefit from Apple’s privacy-focused approach, which stands in contrast to data-heavy competitors, but they face a slower rollout of advanced functionalities. Access to these new capabilities will depend on Apple’s timeline, which is currently being pressured to accelerate.