Nothing CEO Carl Pei predicts the end of smartphone apps

Carl Pei, the CEO and co-founder of Nothing, argues that the current app-based smartphone paradigm is nearing its end. Speaking on Wednesday at South by Southwest (SXSW), an annual tech and media conference, Pei warned that startups whose core value relies on apps will face disruption from artificial intelligence. “In terms of AI in software, I think people should understand that apps are going to disappear,” said Pei, the CEO of Nothing. He asserted that if a startup’s core value lies in its app, it will be disrupted by AI. This vision of future devices is not entirely new for the company; it previously helped Nothing close its $200 million Series C funding round last year.

Pei contends that the current smartphone user experience is outdated, arguing that it has not changed significantly in like 20 years. He compared today’s user experience to the era of Palm Pilots and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Under this current model, performing simple tasks requires users to manually navigate through multiple steps. For example, Pei noted that a user trying to execute a simple intention like grabbing coffee with someone would probably need four apps—spanning messaging, maps, ride-hailing, and calendars—to complete the task.

Instead of forcing users to jump through these manual steps, Pei envisions a future where devices anticipate user intentions and execute actions directly. This shift would move beyond AI features that perform single commands, like booking a flight, toward systems that learn a user’s long-term intentions and surface proactive suggestions, similar to ChatGPT’s memory features. To achieve this, Pei argues that future devices will require interfaces designed for AI agents rather than human navigation. While Nothing’s own operating system currently allows users to vibe code, a feature for creating mini apps, Pei cautioned that the long-term future requires an interface built for agents. He asserted that the future does not involve an AI agent navigating a human interface, but rather requires building an interface specifically designed for the agent to use.

Why it matters

Pei’s vision challenges the fundamental business model of the mobile app economy, suggesting that startups relying on app-based value propositions face inevitable disruption from AI-native interfaces.