It's officially the Ternus era at Apple. Tim Cook stepped down as CEO this week, handing the reins to former hardware chief John Ternus. In his first memo as CEO, Ternus promised a "huge launch next week," putting Apple's next iPhone event squarely on his desk before he's even had time to settle in. Cook isn't going far, though—he'll remain as Executive Chairman, focusing on the policy relationships that recently turned something as small as a map label into a very public balancing act. This raises an obvious question: what will the Ternus era look like, and how much patience will shareholders extend while he figures 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 be better positioned to make progress on software than hardware in this new AI-driven landscape, and more of the week's top stories.
Tune in to the full episode for insights on:
- Nvidia's Expanding Ambitions: Why Nvidia's moves increasingly resemble those of a company aiming to dominate the entire AI stack, rather than just a chipmaker. From its $12.9 billion acquisition of Hugging Face to a $3.5 billion investment in MediaTek and deeper compute partnerships with major cloud providers, Nvidia is positioning itself across hardware, software, and model distribution.
- Robotaxi Chaos: A whirlwind week for autonomous vehicles, including Tesla's Cybercab event, Waymo's expansion into Denver, San Diego, and Tampa, Zoox's first paid rides in Las Vegas, and what happens when these companies begin competing head-to-head for market share.
- a16z's Machine Age Fund: What Andreessen Horowitz's new $1.1 billion "Machine Age" fund signals about the future of early-stage AI hardware investments, from robotics to infrastructure.
- GoPro's $285M Acquisition: Why the sale of GoPro marks the end of an era for one of Silicon Valley's original consumer tech darlings, and what it says about the challenges facing hardware startups in today's market.
As we look ahead to 2026, the tech landscape is being reshaped by leadership transitions at legacy giants like Apple and aggressive vertical integration plays from Nvidia. The Ternus era may be defined not just by new hardware, but by how effectively Apple navigates the AI transition—while Nvidia's stack strategy could redraw the competitive map entirely.
via TechCrunch AI