By Andrew Orr
Publication Date: 2026-04-23 16:40:00
Artificial intelligence has been widely predicted to disrupt smartphones, and hurt Apple, but Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas argues that the iPhone will become more important as AI improve
In a segment from “This Week in AI” published on April 23, Aravind Srinivas, co-founder and CEO of AI search company Perplexity, lays out an outside view of Apple’s position. Srinivas, who previously worked in AI research roles at OpenAI, Google, and DeepMind, argues that AI may reinforce Apple’s core products instead of replacing them.
“The phone, the iPhone is actually not getting disrupted by AI at all,” Srinivas says, arguing that better AI pushes the device in the opposite direction, turning it into “your digital passport.”
The claim runs against the idea that Apple is falling behind in AI compared to companies like OpenAI and Google. Srinivas acknowledges the gap, but he shifts the focus to hardware, privacy, and user data control.
The iPhone’s role in a more personal AI era
Srinivas frames the iPhone as the place where personal context already lives. Payment methods, identity credentials, health data, communications, and photos all sit on a single device tied to one user over time.
AI systems increasingly rely on context to produce useful results, a shift already visible in tools like Perplexity’s Personal Computer feature.
“All these are things that are truly personal to you,” Srinivas mentions, pointing to a layer Apple already controls and can build…