Apple appoints new vice president of AI as John Giannandrea steps down

Apple has announced that its senior vice president for Machine Learning and AI Strategy, John Giannandrea, plans to retire. Having been with the company since 2018, he will serve as an advisor for a short time before moving on in spring next year.

While no reason has been publicly given for the departure, it is widely thought that there was a degree of discontent at Giannandrea’s management of Siri. The product was blighted by a series of delays and problems that did not reflect well on Apple.

Apple says that “Giannandrea has played a key role in the company’s AI and machine learning strategy, building a world-class team and leading them to develop and deploy critical AI technologies. This team is currently responsible for Apple Foundation Models, Search and Knowledge, Machine Learning Research, and AI Infrastructure”.

Speaking about the outgoing senior vice president, Apple CEO Tim Cook said:

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.

In a statement about the retirement, there is more:

Apple also announced that renowned AI researcher Amar Subramanya has joined Apple as vice president of AI, reporting to Craig Federighi. Subramanya will be leading critical areas, including Apple Foundation Models, ML research, and AI Safety and Evaluation. The balance of Giannandrea’s organization will shift to Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue to align closer with similar organizations.

Subramanya has worked on AI projects at both Microsoft and Google, making him an interesting fit for Apple. The company says that he “most recently served as corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft, and previously spent 16 years at Google, where he was head of engineering for Google’s Gemini Assistant prior to his departure. His deep expertise in both AI and ML research and in integrating that research into products and features will be important to Apple’s ongoing innovation and future Apple Intelligence features”.

Apple concludes by saying:

These leadership moves will help Apple continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. With Giannandrea’s contributions as a foundation, Federighi’s expanded oversight and Subramanya’s deep expertise guiding the next generation of AI technologies, Apple is poised to accelerate its work in delivering intelligent, trusted, and profoundly personal experiences. This moment marks an exciting new chapter as Apple strengthens its commitment to shaping the future of AI for users everywhere.