Apple announces AI chief will resign, successor previously worked at Google DeepMind and Microsoft

John Giannandrea, Apple's head of artificial intelligence, is set to step down, marking the end of his tumultuous tenure. On December 1st, Apple announced that Giannandrea, who serves as the Senior Vice President of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, will be leaving the company, fully departing in the spring of next year after a transition period. The executive, who joined Apple from Google seven years ago and reported directly to CEO Tim Cook, will not have a successor; instead, Apple has chosen to split the AI team. Under Giannandrea's leadership, Apple's AI team has consistently failed to catch up with competitors. The Apple Intelligence platform is widely regarded as underperforming. The highly anticipated new version of the Siri voice assistant has also had to delay its release. The statement indicated that employees of the Apple AI team will report separately to software chief Craig Federighi, Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan, and services business head Eddy Cue. AI researcher Amar Subramanya has joined Apple as Vice President of Artificial Intelligence, reporting to Federighi, responsible for areas previously overseen by Giannandrea, including Apple's foundational models, machine learning research, and AI safety and evaluation. Major Organizational Restructuring Apple stated that Giannandrea will continue to serve as an advisor until next spring. Reports suggest that Apple has been searching for a new head of AI, with the newly joined Amar Subramanya having worked at Google for 16 years and previously serving as Vice President of AI at Microsoft. Cook stated in the announcement: AI has long been at the core of Apple's strategy, and we are thrilled to welcome Amar to Craig's leadership team and bring his extraordinary AI expertise to Apple. According to his LinkedIn profile, he previously worked at Google's DeepMind. Apple stated that Subramanya will report to software chief Craig Federighi in the future. Notably, the outgoing Giannandrea is a Senior Vice President, previously reporting directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Giannandrea was initially responsible for overseeing Siri and other AI-related areas, including robotics. However, after the highly anticipated major AI update for Siri was postponed from its original spring 2025 timeline, these areas were transferred to other departments within Apple, including Federighi's team and the hardware engineering department