iPod designer says Apple's AI rollout is smart and 'doesn't require nuclear power'

Tony Fadell said Apple’s staggered rollout of its AI features is smart.
Apple Intelligence features became available on Monday with iOS 18.1.
Fadell said Apple’s slow and steady approach will mean more reliability than the competition.

While Apple’s first AI features may not be as flashy as OpenAI or Google’s futuristic demos, former Apple CEO Tony Fadell thinks the slow and steady strategy was the right move.

Fadell, the founder of Nest, also known as the “father of the iPod,” defended Apple’s staggered rollout strategy for Apple Intelligence at the 2024 TechCrunch Disrupt conference.

Apple’s AI features launched on iPhones with the release of iOS 18.1 on Monday. Those with an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 can now access the first wave of AI features with the new software update.

“People said, ‘I downloaded it,’ and they said, ‘Apple’s AI is meh,'” Fadell said.

“But it works!” Fadell said. “And that’s what you want: you start building things that work, and on top of that you build better and better features.”

Apple arrived noticeably later in the AI race compared to other tech giants such as Googling And Microsoftwhich had already launched generative AI products in the past year. The highly anticipated unveiling of Apple Intelligence also included a more subdued approach, with a emphasis on privacy and practical integrations into various apps and notifications.

Fadell, who worked at Apple from 2001 to 2010 and also worked on the iPhone, said Apple’s distributed system is preferable to a larger AI model that “does everything but does nothing well.”

“I know how these models are built,” he said. “I know the algorithms behind it; they won’t get there.”

Apple is new AI updates include writing tools, message summaries and the beginnings of the revamped Siri, and Fadell said the company’s decision to implement a smaller model is working.

“It’s on the edge, and it doesn’t require nuclear power,” he said, referring to growing investments in nuclear power by some tech giants.

Training, developing, and powering AI products requires enormous amounts of energy, leading some Big Tech companies to turn to nuclear power. Microsoft has made a deal Constellation Energy, which will reopen the Three Mile Island plant in 2028 and provide the company with nuclear power. On October 14, Google announced its partnership with startup Kairos Powers to develop small modular reactors (SMRs), which are advanced nuclear reactors. A day later, Amazon announced that the Amazon Web Services division would anchor a $500 million investment in SMRs to deliver carbon-free energy.

Apple is betting that the AI features, which the company heavily marketed the iPhone 16 series, will convince people to upgrade their devices. The company expects revenue growth in the low to mid-single digits for the upcoming holiday quarter.

During the day Apple’s earnings figures On Thursday, CEO Tim Cook spoke more about Apple’s AI strategy, which plans to release additional Apple Intelligence features in December. The new software will be available not only in US English, but also in the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. Cook also said more languages will be added starting in April.

“And so we move forward as quickly as possible, while ensuring quality,” he said. “That’s what we do.”

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