Apple has shaken up the leadership of its AI and Siri teams. Mike Rockwell, the head of Vision Pro, has been named the new head of AI, replacing John Giannandrea, who lost the trust of Tim Cook. The changes come amid a delay in the launch of generative AI and growing tensions within the company.
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According to Bloomberg’s sources, the decision to make the switch came after Apple CEO Tim Cook lost confidence in Giannandrea’s ability to effectively lead AI development. Rockwell will now lead both Siri and Apple’s AI efforts. At the same time, Paul Meade, who previously oversaw the hardware development for Apple’s Vision Pro augmented reality headset under Rockwell, will take over as head of the Vision Pro Group.
Earlier this month, Apple said in a statement to tech blog Daring Fireball that it was delaying the rollout of generative AI updates to Siri until next year because development was taking longer than the company had expected. Bloomberg later reported on a tense meeting of the Siri team in which Apple senior director Robby Walker called the AI situation “ugly.” Whether Apple can regain its lost momentum in the AI race remains an open question.