Apple sacks AI chief, fills post with Microsoft and Google veteran

It's no secret that Apple has fallen far behind in the artificial intelligence race, but a recent corporate shakeup may accelerate the Cupertino company's AI ambitions. 

Apple announced Monday that John Giannandrea, Apple's chief of AI and machine learning, will be stepping down from his role as a Senior Vice President and will serve as an advisor until his retirement in the spring of 2026. Taking his place is Amar Subramanya, an AI researcher with experience at both Microsoft and Google. Subramanya's main responsibilities will include overseeing "Apple Foundation Models, ML research, and AI Safety and Evaluation," per Apple.

Subramanya spent 16 years at Google and was the head engineer behind Google's Gemini Assistant. After this career, he moved to Microsoft as a corporate vice president in the company's AI department. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke on the transition, stating:

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. 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. In addition to growing his leadership team and AI responsibilities with Amar’s joining, Craig has been instrumental in driving our AI efforts, including overseeing our work to bring a more personalized Siri to users next year.

The move comes amidst ongoing criticism of Apple's lackluster AI offerings. Dubbed "Apple Intelligence," Apple's version of artificial intelligence has largely not lived up to the promises Apple itself made during its initial marketing campaign. Most of the features Apple touted (such as smart appointment setting and other digital assistant-focused tasks) have yet to surface, prompting the company to walk back its advertising. Apple Intelligence still lacks many of the features found in other AI assistants, such as Google's Gemini.