Apple Inc. announced on Monday that Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook will step down from his role on September 1st and transition to the position of Executive Chairman. After nearly 15 years leading the iPhone maker, Cook will be succeeded as CEO by John Ternus. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey commented on the announcement on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The news of John Ternus replacing Tim Cook as CEO prompted immediate reactions from executives across the technology industry. Cook has served as CEO for nearly 15 years, since taking over from Apple's late founder, Steve Jobs, in 2011.
"Tim Cook is a legend," wrote OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a post on X. "I'm deeply grateful for everything he has done, and deeply grateful to Apple." Apple and OpenAI initiated a partnership in 2024, integrating ChatGPT into the Siri voice assistant and Apple's writing tools.
Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey also posted on X, writing, "RIP Tim Apple." This statement humorously referenced a famous verbal slip by former President Donald Trump during a 2019 White House event. During his first term, Trump mistakenly referred to Cook as "Tim Apple." Cook took the incident in good humor, even temporarily replacing his last name with an Apple logo in his Twitter profile bio.
Luckey left Facebook in 2017, the same year he founded the defense technology contractor Anduril.
Ternus, who currently serves as Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, will officially assume the CEO role on September 1st. At that time, Cook will transition to the role of Executive Chairman.
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