Key points
– John Giannandrea, head of Apple’s AI team, will retire in early 2026.
– Apple faces criticism for falling behind rivals in AI development.
– Amar Subramanya, a veteran from Google and Microsoft, has joined as vice president of AI.
Apple announced that John Giannandrea, who led its Machine Learning and AI Strategy for seven years, will step down and retire in spring 2026. He will remain with the company as an advisor through his final months.
Giannandrea will be succeeded by Amar Subramanya, who has joined Apple as vice president of AI. Subramanya most recently served briefly as a corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft and spent 16 years at Google, where he was head of engineering for the Gemini digital assistant.
The move comes amid criticism that Apple has lagged behind competitors in rolling out AI-driven features for devices such as the iPhone. Apple delayed a more capable Siri until 2026, while rivals including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI continue to release rapid improvements to AI models and features.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar