Apple’s AI chief, John Giannandrea, hasn’t had the best year. Beyond being the face of Apple’s AI struggles, the leader has also had several key responsibilities stripped away recently. And now, Bloomberg reports that Apple “is searching for a replacement” for Giannandrea.
Apple’s search for new AI head follows Siri delays, staff departures
Yesterday, Bloomberg reported on a big restructuring happening at Apple in preparation for Jeff Williams’ forthcoming retirement. Health and fitness divisions have reportedly moved under Eddy Cue’s Services team, and Apple Watch responsibilities have shifted too.
Within that article, there’s also mention of more potential executive changes on the horizon.
Mark Gurman writes at Bloomberg:
The company is searching for a replacement for John Giannandrea, its artificial intelligence chief.
This isn’t a total surprise, for multiple reasons.
First, the ongoing fallout from Apple’s AI and Siri struggles have made Giannandrea’s departure seem likely for a while now—especially with his team bleeding employees.
Second, Gurman has previously reported that Giannandrea‘s status is “uncertain” at Apple.
He wrote as recently as last weekend that top leaders at Apple have been looking at outside prospects “to eventually replace Giannandrea,” including one senior AI exec at Meta.
But this latest Gurman report offers the strongest statement yet of Apple’s intent to replace its current AI chief.
John Giannandrea’s hiring in 2018 was seen as a big win for Apple at the time. Until then he had been at Google, leading the push “to integrate A.I. throughout Google’s products, including internet search, Gmail and its own digital assistant.”
If Giannandrea is indeed replaced, it will be interesting to see if the move brings any other restructuring to the AI organization within Apple.
Do you expect Apple to replace John Giannandrea soon? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.
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