Apple’s Ternus era begins as Nvidia bets on the whole AI stack
Apple's John Ternus becomes CEO as Tim Cook steps down; Nvidia expands across the AI stack while a16z launches a $1.1B Machine Age fund.
Tim Cook stepped down as Apple CEO, handing the company to former hardware chief John Ternus, with Cook staying as Executive Chairman focused on policy relationships. TechCrunch's Equity podcast also unpacks Nvidia's moves to own the entire AI stack, including its Hugging Face acquisition, a MediaTek investment, and deeper compute deals. Other items include robotaxi competition (Tesla Cybercab, Waymo expansion, Zoox paid rides), Andreessen Horowitz's new $1.1 billion 'Machine Age' fund, and the $285 million GoPro acquisition.
- John Ternus becomes Apple CEO; Cook remains Executive Chairman
- Nvidia acquired Hugging Face and invested in MediaTek to own the AI stack
- a16z launched a $1.1 billion 'Machine Age' fund for AI hardware
- Zoox began first paid robotaxi rides amid Tesla and Waymo competition
Full article572 words · extracted from techcrunch.com · click to collapse
It’s officially the Ternus era at Apple.
Tim Cook stepped down as CEO this week, handing the company to former hardware chief John Ternus, whose first memo promised a “huge launch next week” — timing that puts Apple’s next iPhone event on his desk before he’s even settled in. Cook isn’t going far, though: he’s staying on as Executive Chairman, focused on the kind of policy relationships that recently turned something as small as a map label into a very public balancing act. All of which raises an obvious question: what does the Ternus era look like, and how much rope will shareholders give him to figure it out?
On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec and Sean O’Kane unpack what Ternus is walking into, why he may actually be better positioned to make progress on software than hardware in this new AI era, and more of the week’s news.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- Why Nvidia keeps making moves that look less like a chipmaker and more like a company trying to own the entire AI stack, from its Hugging Face acquisition to its investment in MediaTek and deeper compute deals
- A chaotic week for robotaxis: Tesla’s Cybercab event, Waymo’s expansion into new cities, Zoox’s first paid rides, and what happens when these companies start competing head-to-head
- What Andreessen Horowitz’s new $1.1 billion “Machine Age” fund signals about where early-stage AI hardware bets are headed
- Why the $285 million acquisition of GoPro marks the end of an era for one of Silicon Valley’s original consumer tech darlings
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and all the casts. You can also follow Equity on X and Threads at @EquityPod.
Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University.
You can contact or verify outreach from Theresa by emailing [email protected].
Kirsten Korosec is a reporter and editor who has covered the future of transportation from EVs and autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility and in-car tech for more than a decade. She is currently the transportation editor at TechCrunch and co-host of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. She is also co-founder and co-host of the podcast, “The Autonocast.” She previously wrote for Fortune, The Verge, Bloomberg, MIT Technology Review and CBS Interactive.
You can contact or verify outreach from Kirsten by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at kkorosec.07 on Signal.
Sean O’Kane is a reporter who has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the transportation industry, including Tesla and the many startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane.
You can contact or verify outreach from Sean by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at okane.01 on Signal.
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