Nothing CEO Carl Pei says smartphone apps will disappear as AI agents take their place

Carl Pei, the co-founder and CEO of Nothing, is envisioning a revolutionary shift in smartphone technology. During an interview at the SXSW conference in Austin, he suggested that the era of traditional smartphone apps is nearing its end, making way for AI agents that operate independently of user commands. Pei expressed his belief that apps, which have been at the core of mobile functionality, will soon be disrupted. "If you’re a founder or a startup and your app is where the core value lies, that will be disrupted whether you like it or not," he stated. This forward-thinking perspective is part of the vision that helped Nothing secure $200 million in Series C funding last year, focusing on creating a smartphone powered by AI and advanced personalization technologies. At SXSW, Pei elaborated on this concept, describing an initial AI feature that could autonomously handle tasks like booking travel. However, he dismissed this early development as "super boring." The more intriguing future, according to Pei, lies in AI systems that learn users' long-term intentions, allowing them to provide proactive suggestions. For example, if someone aims to improve their health, the AI could offer personalized nudges to help achieve those goals. Pei emphasized that the potential of such devices would lie in their ability to anticipate needs without explicit commands. He criticized the outdated nature of current smartphone interfaces, likening them to relics of the past, such as Palm Pilots and PDAs. He pointed out that the user experience has remained stagnant for approximately two decades, with users still navigating through numerous steps across multiple apps to complete simple tasks. "It’s very hard to get things done on a phone," Pei remarked, illustrating the cumbersome process of ordering coffee, which may involve several apps for messaging, navigation, ride-hailing, and scheduling. He envisions a future where smartphones understand user intentions intuitively, executing tasks automatically through AI capabilities. In this future landscape, the interface would not be structured around human navigation of apps but rather designed specifically for AI agents. Pei acknowledged that while apps are not going away immediately, the ultimate goal is to develop an interface that allows AI to interact seamlessly without relying on human-like gestures. "The future is not the agent using a human interface. You need to create an interface for the agent to use. I think that’s the more future-proof way of doing it," he concluded, suggesting a transformative shift in how we interact with technology.