3 6 Ke·2025-12-02 08:19Core Insights - Apple has appointed Amar Subramanya as the new head of AI, replacing John Giannandrea, amid ongoing challenges with Siri's major upgrade [1][3][5] - Giannandrea's departure marks a significant structural change within Apple's AI team, which has struggled to keep pace with competitors in the AI space [3][4][6] - The transition reflects a shift in strategy, integrating AI more closely with the core operating systems team rather than operating as an independent unit [6][7] Leadership Changes - Giannandrea has been relieved of his duties as Senior Vice President of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, with his independent AI organization being dissolved [3][4] - Subramanya, previously at Microsoft and Google, will report directly to Craig Federighi, indicating a more integrated approach to AI development within Apple's software engineering team [5][6] Strategic Implications - The restructuring aims to embed AI capabilities across all operational levels of the company, with other department heads taking over Giannandrea's remaining responsibilities [7] - Apple is focusing on rebuilding the Siri architecture, with a new timeline pushing advanced features to the spring of 2026, which is significantly behind competitors [8][9] Competitive Landscape - Apple has been criticized for lagging behind in generative AI, entering the field two years after OpenAI's ChatGPT became a benchmark [3][4] - Competitors like Google and Amazon have already launched advanced AI products, putting pressure on Apple to accelerate its development efforts [9][10] Internal Challenges - The AI team has faced high turnover, with key members leaving, including the founding chief scientist of the foundational models team [10] - Technical issues with Siri's integration of generative AI have led to significant operational challenges, described internally as a "disaster" [8]