1. The next trillion-dollar question: Which interface becomes the dominant access point for AI?
2. Each major tech player—Apple, Meta, OpenAI—anchors its strategy around a different interaction model: visual, embodied, or ambient.
3. The outcome determines not just user experience—but the distribution of economic power across the AI stack.

Vision 1: Apple — Screen Persistence Strategy

The Strategy

• Evolutionary, not revolutionary: AI enhances existing devices.
• The screen remains primary—the iPhone and Vision Pro evolve into AI gateways.
• Leverages installed base and brand trust instead of reinventing form factors.

Core Products

Vision Pro • iPhone 17 • Apple Intelligence • Siri 2.0

Advantages

• $162B cash reserve → can wait and observe market.
• 2B+ active devices already deployed.
• Deep ecosystem lock-in (App Store, iCloud, hardware).
• Proven late-mover success (e.g., App Store, Watch).
• Can acquire or partner (OpenAI, Anthropic).

Risks

• Current AI capabilities lag behind competitors.
• If interface shifts away from screens, Apple’s dominance erodes.
• Waiting too long may cede advantage to faster-moving rivals.
• Risk of being trapped in a conservative paradigm if AI redefines utility beyond visual design.

Tim Cook’s Core Belief:
“The importance of the screen will continue in AI. People will always have utility here, desire to look at things.”

Vision 2: Meta — Embodied AI Through Glasses

The Strategy

• Merge AI and AR to create a new physical interface layer.
• Glasses become the access point to “superintelligence.”
• AI blends digital cognition with real-world context.

Core Stack

Ray-Ban Smart Glasses • Reality Labs • Llama Models • Meta AI

Advantages

• Most aggressive bet on future interface.
• $37B annual Reality Labs investment.
• Strong consumer partnerships (Ray-Ban).
• First-mover advantage in wearable AI.
• No legal hardware restrictions.
• Social graph integration creates differentiation.

Risks

• Mass adoption of glasses remains highly uncertain.
• Privacy and facial-tracking concerns.
• Sustained Reality Labs losses ($50B+ since inception).
• Risk of market rejection similar to Google Glass.
• Could be years from mass readiness.

Zuckerberg’s Vision:
“Superintelligence accessed through glasses—tools that allow you to see things they way you want, and in real time, help you augment your world.”

Vision 3: OpenAI & Others — Ambient Intelligence (Voice-First)

The Strategy

• No dedicated hardware—AI becomes everywhere and invisible.
• Voice is the universal interface.
• Platform-agnostic agents operate across all devices.
• Continuous, contextual, cross-device intelligence layer.

Core Platforms

ChatGPT App • GPT-4.5 • Perplexity • Humane Pin • Multimodal APIs

Advantages

• Works instantly across all devices (no hardware dependency).
• Lowest adoption barrier.
• Rapid innovation cycles (frequent model updates).
• Microsoft backing ($13B invested).
• Can partner with hardware OEMs.

Risks

• Monetization unclear without hardware or ads.
• Apple and Google may block or restrict access at OS level.
• Value capture difficult without controlling distribution layer.
• Enormous compute costs (billions burned annually).

OpenAI’s Vision:
“The idea is that it would be always on, and that’s how you’d access the digital world… Market chatbots in a way that’s potentially very powerful.”

The Economics: Mountains of Cash Being Burned

“These things are hugely expensive. They’re requiring just mountains of cash to be burned to buy up computing power to train them.” — Tim Higgins

The Central Question: Which Interface Wins?

The winner will define not just UX—but the next operating system of human cognition.