Apple AI Head John Giannandrea to leave after chaotic stint; Indian

Apple AI Head John Giannandrea to leave after chaotic stint; Indian-origin AI researcher to take over
AI researcher Amar Subramanya has joined Apple as vice president of artificial intelligence, reporting to Federighi. He’ll lead the Apple Foundation models, machine learning research, and AI safety and evaluation. Those were the primary areas that Giannandrea oversaw in recent months.
By Bloomberg
Apple Inc. artificial intelligence head John Giannandrea is stepping down from the role, capping a tumultuous tenure that included a fumbled entry into generative AI.
Giannandrea is exiting his job as senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy and will leave the company entirely in the spring after a transitional period, Apple said in a statement Monday.
Under Giannandrea, Apple’s AI team struggled to catch up with Silicon Valley peers. The company arrived late to generative AI — two years after OpenAI’s ChatGPT became synonymous with the technology — and its Apple Intelligence platform was widely considered subpar. The company also had to delay a much-touted new version of its Siri voice assistant.
The executive, who joined the company from Google seven years ago, reported directly to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. Apple won’t be replacing Giannandrea, opting instead to break up the artificial intelligence team. Staff will now report to software head Craig Federighi, Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan and services chief Eddy Cue.
AI researcher Amar Subramanya, meanwhile, has joined Apple as vice president of artificial intelligence, reporting to Federighi. He’ll lead the Apple Foundation models, machine learning research, and AI safety and evaluation. Those were the primary areas that Giannandrea oversaw in recent months.
“AI has long been central to Apple’s strategy, and we are pleased to welcome Amar to Craig’s leadership team and to bring his extraordinary AI expertise to Apple,” Cook said in the statement.
Subramanya spent 16 years at Alphabet Inc.’s Google and most recently served as Microsoft Corp.’s corporate vice president of AI. Bloomberg News reported that Apple was searching for a new head of AI and that Giannandrea’s days at the company were likely numbered.
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Giannandrea had initially overseen Siri and other AI-related areas, such as robotics. But those areas were moved to other parts of Apple, including Federighi’s group and hardware engineering, after a major AI-focused update to Siri was delayed from a planned spring 2025 release.
The Cupertino, California-based company is now aiming to debut the software in spring of next year.
Apple’s AI group also has suffered a talent drain in recent months. The models team, which develops the underlying technology for Apple Intelligence, has been especially hard hit by departures.
Roughly a dozen members of that organisation have left, including its founder and lead scientist, Ruoming Pang. He and a number of other Apple employees joined Meta Platforms Inc., which has been building a so-called superintelligence group.
One source of the upheaval: Apple is looking to outsource some AI technology to Google. That’s caused concerns within Apple about the company’s commitment to in-house systems, Bloomberg has reported.
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