Carl Pei: smartphone apps will disappear as AI agents take over
Nothing's CEO said at SXSW that the future isn't AI using apps, but AI that understands your long-term goals.
What did he say?
Nothing CEO Carl Pei said at SXSW in Austin: "apps are going to disappear."
In his view, agents that just execute commands, like booking a flight, are "super boring." The next step is an AI that learns your long-term intentions and offers nudges on its own.
Pei said: "The future is not the agent using a human interface."
When?
Pei says apps aren't going away in the near term. But Nothing OS already lets users "vibe code" small apps with AI.
Nothing and AI
Nothing raised $200 million in 2025 on the pitch of an AI-first device.
Founder and editor-in-chief of Kurd Developers. Phone and tech news on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
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