Apple’s AI chief John Gianandrea is stepping down and will be replaced by Amar Subramanya, the former head of engineering for Google’s Gemini Assistant, the company announced on Monday.
Gianandrea will continue to serve the company in a limited capacity, including as an advisor to its board, before retiring in spring 2026.
The change in personnel comes after Apple failed to deliver on its promise of a better, AI-powered Siri. Some of Siri’s AI features announced at WWDC 2024, such as the ability to draw from personal context and take actions autonomously on behalf of users, have yet to debut.
Apple admitted earlier this year that developing these features was taking longer than expected because they were running into issues with outdated Siri code. However, the company has committed to killing off the features next year, and many expect them to arrive with iOS 26.4.
Earlier this year, there were also reports that CEO Tim Cook had lost confidence in Gianandrea and had handed the AI reins to Vision Pro creator Mike Rockwell. Amidst all the delays, the company faced multiple lawsuits for failing to deliver the features it advertised with the iPhone 16.
Amar Subramanya, on the other hand, runs with a wealth of experience in AI and machine learning. As Apple’s vice president of AI, he will report directly to Craig Federighi, the company’s SVP of software engineering.
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Subramania’s 16-year tenure at Google began as a research assistant, and later, he moved into the role of principal engineer and VP of VP for Gemini. According to his LinkedIn profile, he left Google in June and took over as Microsoft’s AICVP last July.
Apple’s rumors also fueled rumors of yet another high-level personnel change. CEO Tim Cook is reportedly stepping down early next year, and John Terence, the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, is being considered as his most likely replacement.
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Jibeen is a tech news writer based in Ahmedabad, India. Previously, he served as the editor of the iGex blog and is a self-proclaimed tech enthusiast who loves breaking down complex information for a wider audience.
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