‘Father of the iPod’ says Apple’s staggered AI rollout is smart — and ‘doesn’t require nuclear power’

Nest founder Tony Fadell at the 2024 TechCrunch Disrupt conference.

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

Fadell, the founder of Nest, who is 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 were like, ‘I downloaded it,’ and they were like, ‘Apple’s AI is meh,'” Fadell said.

“But it works!” Fadell said. “And that’s the thing you want — is you start building things that work, and you build on top of those and make better and better features.”

Apple arrived noticeably later in the AI race compared to other tech giants like Google and Microsoft, which had already launched generative AI products throughout the last year. Its long-anticipated Apple Intelligence reveal also featured a more restrained approach, with an 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 that Apple’s staggered 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 them — they are not going to get there.”

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

“It’s at the edge, and it doesn’t require nuclear power,” he said, referencing the growing investments into nuclear energy 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 struck a deal with Constellation Energy that will see the Three Mile Island plant reopened by 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. Day later, Amazon announced that its Amazon Web Services division would anchor a $500 million investment into SMRs to provide carbon-free power.

Apple is betting that its AI features, which the company heavily marketed the iPhone 16 lineup on, will convince people to upgrade their devices. The company is expecting sales growth in the low to mid-single digits in the upcoming holiday quarter.

During Apple’s earnings call on Thursday, CEO Tim Cook talked 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 that more languages will be added starting in April.

“And so, we’re moving just as fast as possible while ensuring quality,” he said. “That’s what we’re doing.”