John Giannandrea, Apple’s senior vice president of AI, is leaving the company amid ongoing challenges in enhancing the company’s artificial intelligence capabilities, particularly with its digital assistant, Siri. His departure marks a significant shift in Apple’s AI leadership as the company aims to realign its strategies in this critical area.
New Leadership in AI at Apple
Amar Subramanya, an AI researcher with a background at both Google and Microsoft, has joined Apple as vice president of AI. He will report directly to Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering. This move is part of a broader strategy to inject new expertise into Apple’s AI initiatives and comes as the company prepares to develop a more personalized version of Siri, expected to launch next year.
In a statement, Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed gratitude for Giannandrea’s contributions to the company’s AI efforts. “We are thankful for the role John played in building and advancing our AI work, helping Apple continue to innovate and enrich the lives of our users,” Cook said. He emphasized the importance of AI within Apple’s overall strategy and welcomed Subramanya’s addition to the leadership team.
Challenges and Changes in Apple’s AI Strategy
Giannandrea joined Apple in 2018 after a notable tenure at Google, where he was recognized for his work in AI. Initially, his arrival was seen as a major win for Apple, as he took charge of the company’s AI efforts and was quickly elevated to the executive team, directly reporting to Cook. Despite these early successes, progress in advancing Siri has been limited, leading to growing criticism of the assistant’s performance.
In March 2024, Apple removed control of Siri from Giannandrea’s team after they failed to enhance the technology as promised during the WWDC 2024 conference. Since then, he has focused on developing foundational AI models for Apple, while control of Siri has transitioned to Mike Rockwell, who was instrumental in the creation of Apple’s Vision Pro.
Now, Subramanya will take over the work on foundational AI models, allowing Giannandrea to be reassigned within the company. In the statement, Apple indicated that the combination of Giannandrea’s foundational contributions, Federighi’s leadership, and Subramanya’s expertise positions Apple to accelerate its AI endeavors. “This moment marks an exciting new chapter as Apple strengthens its commitment to shaping the future of AI for users everywhere,” the company stated.
As Apple navigates these changes, the focus remains on enhancing user experience through AI innovations, particularly in delivering intelligent and personalized services. The tech giant’s commitment to advancing its AI capabilities will be closely watched as it seeks to reclaim its position as a leader in this competitive field.
