Apple announces that John Gianandrea, senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy, will retire in early 2026 and serve as an advisor for the remainder of his term – Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP JUSTIN SULLIVAN
Apple announced Monday that the head of its artificial intelligence team will step down and a veteran engineer from Google and Microsoft will lead the effort.
John Gianandrea, Apple’s senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy, plans to step down early next year, announced after the tech giant stumbles in its efforts to show it’s not left behind on the technology front.
The iPhone maker said Gianandrea will continue to serve as an advisor to Apple for the remainder of his tenure.
“We’re grateful for the role John has played in building and advancing our AI research,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a post announcing the news.
Researcher Amar Subramanya will join Apple as vice president and lead “key areas” such as AI-based models and machine learning, the company said.
Apple said Subramanya most recently served as corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft, and before that spent 16 years at Google, where he was head of engineering for the Gemini digital assistant before leaving the company.
Apple said Subramanya’s experience integrating AI into features and products is “important to Apple’s continued innovation and future Apple Intelligence capabilities.”
Gianandrea joined Apple in 2018 to lead the company’s AI efforts. Apple delayed the release of its improved Siri digital assistant earlier this year, and is now promising a release next year.
Meanwhile, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and other technology rivals have been constantly releasing improved AI models and features in a fierce race for technological leadership.
Apple is under pressure to show it’s keeping pace with artificial intelligence, which has the potential to change the way people interact with the internet and computers.
Cook cited AI as “central to Apple’s strategy” and said Subramanya brings “exceptional AI expertise” to the role, reporting directly to Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering.
“Craig has been instrumental in driving our AI efforts forward, including overseeing our efforts to bring personalized Siri to users starting next year,” Cook said.
In a recent earnings call, Mr. Cook touted the latest Apple devices, the tech giant’s custom chips and efforts to enhance its products and services with artificial intelligence.
