Apple AI chief steps down following Siri setbacks

Apple AI chief John Giannandrea is stepping down from his position, according to an announcement on Monday. The change comes as Apple struggles to get its AI-powered Siri back on track after delaying its launch earlier this year.

Now, Amar Subramanya will serve as Apple’s vice president of AI. Subramanya spent 16 years at Google before joining Microsoft’s AI division as the corporate VP of AI in July. While at Apple, Subramanya will oversee the development of the company’s AI models, machine learning research, as well as AI safety and evaluation.

Giannandrea, who previously headed up AI and Search at Google, joined Apple in 2018 to help improve the company’s voice assistant.

In March, Apple pushed back the release of a more personalized Siri, admitting that “it’s taking longer than we thought.” Bloomberg later reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook had “lost confidence” in Giannandrea’s ability to oversee the company’s AI team, leading him to put Vision Pro leader Mike Rockwell in charge. Giannandrea will continue working as an advisor before retiring in the spring of 2026.

Apple says Subramanya’s experience in integrating AI research into products “will be important to Apple’s ongoing innovation and future Apple Intelligence features.” As part of the shift, Subramanya will report to Apple software SVP Craig Federighi. Apple expects to launch its upgraded Siri next spring, with a report from Bloomberg suggesting that the company will power some of the assistant’s new features with a custom version of Google’s Gemini AI model.

“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,” Cook says in a statement. “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.”