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Former Apple CEO John Sculley identified OpenAI as the largest competitive threat facing Apple in years, marking a potential shift after decades of dominance by the iPhone maker in the technology industry.
“This is the biggest thing I think that’s happened since Tim Cook took over from Steve Jobs 15 years ago,” he told “The Claman Countdown” Monday.
Sculley’s comments come one week after it was announced that Tim Cook is stepping down as Apple’s CEO and will become its executive chairman, and as both Apple and OpenAI are reportedly exploring the development of similar next-generation AI products.
Apple is reportedly set to launch a wearable AI pin, Sculley said, while former Apple designer Jony Ive, credited for helping transform the company’s product vision, is partnering up with OpenAI to create its own AI-powered hardware.
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“It’s one that may have a camera in it. It won’t have a screen. And it’s going to be able to have what’s called ambient awareness, meaning it’s always on, it’s listening, and you get it through an ear pod,” he explained. “And that would be an entirely new user experience for people in the Apple ecosystem.”
Sculley said each company’s interpretation of the device will be different, but warned the competition poses a threat to Apple’s longstanding tech dominance.
He signaled that consumer loyalty may vary, as buyers will gravitate toward their preferred product, rather than defaulting to Apple’s ecosystem.
“I expect that they’re going to be taking very different ways of interpreting it in terms of a product,” the former Apple CEO said.
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“Some are going to become loyal to one version and some are gonna become loyal to another.”
The emergence of OpenAI as a dominant force in the tech world is part of what Sculley described as a “weather system” that is constantly shifting the industry.
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Sculley affirmed that amid the AI storm, Apple’s leadership remains strong, even amid concerns surrounding Cook’s transition.
“Tim Cook did a spectacular job as CEO,” Sculley told FOX Business. “And the incoming CEO, John Ternus, looks incredibly qualified to be the next leader. So, from that standpoint, Apple’s in a very good position.”
Sculley went on to share advice for Apple as it rings in its 50th year in operation and as the race for AI dominance only intensifies.
“Stay true to the values Apple has been so successful at: beautiful products, no compromises,” he said.
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