Apple’s AI Chief Is Stepping Down And A Microsoft Govt Is Filling His Place

Apple at this time introduced that John Giannandrea, the corporate’s Senior VP for Machine Studying and AI Technique, will likely be stepping down early subsequent 12 months. Giannandrea’s departure comes within the wake of Apple lacking the boat on generative AI, a misstep that presently leaves Apple enjoying catch-up within the AI house. Compounding issues is that a lot of Apple’s ongoing efforts to implement AI throughout its platforms have paled compared to a number of the extra thrilling improvements we have seen from corporations like OpenAI and Google.

Stepping in for Giannandrea will likely be Amar Subramanya who, for the previous six months, has served as Microsoft’s company VP of AI. Previous to that, he was a VP of Engineering at Google the place he labored on AI software program like Gemini. “Subramanya will likely be main essential areas, together with Apple Basis Fashions, ML analysis, and AI Security and Analysis,” Apple’s press launch reads partly. “The steadiness of Giannandrea’s group will shift to Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue to align nearer with related organizations.”

It stays to be seen if Apple’s AI woes will change into a factor of the previous with Subramanya on the helm. What is definite, although, is that Apple’s AI crew wanted a drastic shakeup. Other than the truth that Apple’s AI efforts have been lackluster, there are reviews that confidence inside Apple relating to AI is low. Just some weeks in the past, a report emerged claiming that some Apple engineers are already apprehensive that the next-gen model of Siri won’t reside as much as expectations. What’s extra, a Bloomberg report claims that if the upcoming Siri replace fails to impress, there is perhaps an exodus of prime AI expertise from Apple sooner fairly than later.

An enormous drawback Apple has needed to take care of in latest months is that it is dropping quite a lot of its prime AI expertise. Throughout the latter half of 2025 alone, Apple has misplaced quite a few its prime AI engineers and researchers. In lots of circumstances, these workers jumped ship to Meta, lured in by extremely profitable compensation packages. This previous October, for instance, Meta employed former Apple govt Ke Yang. Although not a family title, Yang was spearheading Apple’s burgeoning “Solutions, Data, and Info” crew, a bunch tasked with enhancing Siri’s means to offer correct solutions to basic data questions.

There isn’t any denying that Apple’s AI efforts have did not impress, however Apple CEO Tim Cook dinner stays optimistic that the corporate can recuperate. “We have not often been first,” Cook dinner advised workers at an inner assembly earlier this 12 months. “There was a PC earlier than the Mac; there was a smartphone earlier than the iPhone; there have been many tablets earlier than the iPad; there was an MP3 participant earlier than iPod. However Apple invented the fashionable variations of these product classes. That is how I really feel about AI.”

Cook dinner has been optimistic about Apple’s AI efforts for years, so that you would possibly need to take his declare with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, the excellent news is that we wont have to attend lengthy to see if Apple can ably compete within the AI market. Assuming there are not any hiccups, Cook dinner throughout Apple’s latest earnings convention name stated that Apple’s AI-powered model of Siri is nonetheless on observe for a launch in March or April of 2026.