John Giannandrea, the senior vice president for machine learning and AI strategy at Apple, is stepping down from his position, as announced by the company on Monday. Giannandrea will continue to serve as an advisor until his retirement in the spring of 2024. This transition marks a significant shift in Apple’s leadership in artificial intelligence.
In a statement, Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed gratitude for Giannandrea’s contributions, 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.” Giannandrea has been with the company for nearly eight years and previously held a role at Google.
Amar Subramanya Joins Apple
Following Giannandrea’s departure, Amar Subramanya has been appointed as Apple’s new vice president of AI. Subramanya, who most recently served as a corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft, brings extensive experience to the role. Before his tenure at Microsoft, he spent 16 years at Google, where he was the head of engineering for Gemini, the AI assistant.
This leadership change comes amidst an increasingly competitive landscape for AI talent among leading tech companies. The “AI talent wars” have intensified this year, with major firms like Apple, Microsoft, and Meta aggressively recruiting top engineers and researchers, often offering lucrative compensation packages.
Earlier in the year, several prominent AI researchers from Apple were recruited by Meta, as reported by Bloomberg. Simultaneously, Microsoft has been actively seeking to attract skilled engineers from Meta, further highlighting the fierce competition in the sector.
As the tech industry continues to evolve, these leadership shifts at Apple and Microsoft will be closely monitored by analysts and stakeholders, particularly in regard to the future of AI technology and applications within their respective platforms.
