Apple replaces head of AI with executive poached from Microsoft

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Apple’s vice president of artificial intelligence will be replaced by a top executive at Microsoft, as the iPhone maker struggles to recover from a slow start in the race to harness advanced artificial intelligence.

John Giannandrea, senior vice president of machine learning and artificial intelligence strategy, will step down and serve as an advisor to Apple until his retirement in the spring, the company said Monday.

He will be replaced by former Microsoft CEO Amar Subramanya, who left his job as vice president of Microsoft six months after jumping from Google, where he was working on the Gemini chatbot.

“Artificial intelligence has always been a key component of Apple’s strategy, and we are thrilled to welcome Ammar…and bring his exceptional AI expertise to Apple,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The leadership change at Apple’s AI division comes as Gianandrea has faced mounting criticism for a stuttering approach to deploying generative AI, the technology that underpins competitors’ products such as Gemini and ChatGPT.

Apple has been slow to catch up on technology and roll out AI tools in recent years, as chatbots have grown rapidly in popularity.

Giannandrea joined Apple in 2018, where he led the integration of AI into Google products including Search and Gmail. At Apple, he was responsible for Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, and integrating artificial intelligence into its devices.

Siri was removed from Giannandrea’s purview earlier this year, following delays in AI improvements.

“We are grateful for the role John played in building and advancing our AI work, and helping Apple continue to innovate and enrich the lives of our users,” Cook said Monday.

Subramania will report to Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple.

“In addition to growing his leadership team and AI responsibilities with Amar on board, Craig has been instrumental in leading our AI efforts, including overseeing our work to bring a more personalized Siri to users next year,” Cook said.

The Financial Times reported that this change comes at a time when the company’s board of directors has intensified planning for Cook’s succession. Federighi is widely viewed as a potential successor to the CEO position.

These changes are also the latest development in an intensifying war for AI talent between Big Tech rivals and startups like OpenAI.

Subramanya was one of more than two dozen researchers Microsoft poached from Google earlier this year, as the software giant moved to build its own so-called superintelligence team — working on models capable of matching human performance — led by Mustafa Soliman, co-founder of DeepMind.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlighted Subramania’s appointment in a recent podcast interview, noting that he will help the company expand its internal research efforts after restructuring its relationship with OpenAI.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.