Apple has announced that John Giannandrea, one of the most influential executives in its AI strategy in recent years, will begin a retirement process that will culminate in 2026. The company explains that the executive will leave his position as senior vice president of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, although he will continue to collaborate as an advisor in the coming months. This announcement comes months after a realignment of responsibilities related to Apple Intelligence and Siri.
Giannandrea landed at Apple in 2018 as one of its most notable signings, with the task of strengthening the AI strategy and giving Siri a new direction. His team was in charge of areas such as Apple Foundation Models, the internal search engine and machine learning research, technical pieces on which Apple has built much of its recent strategy. He also assumed responsibility for guiding the evolution of the voice assistant and coordinating AI projects that affected multiple teams in the company.
A project that began with ambition. Apple Intelligence was born as a profound renewal of the user experience, but the advances were not at the expected pace. The Information detailed that the demo shown at WWDC 2024 did not fully reflect the advanced capabilities that Apple had suggested, and that many of those features were not implemented at the time of the presentation. The pressure increased when the company confirmed that the new Siri with custom functions would be delayed until 2026.
Internal war in Cupertino over the direction of AI. Tensions between the AI/ML group and the software team were longstanding. While the area led by Giannandrea opted for a more cautious advance focused on privacy, Craig Federighi defended a more pragmatic approach aimed at tangible results. The clash of priorities became evident when some engineers began referring to the AI/ML team as “AIMLess,” a sign of the accumulated unrest. The situation led to a turn in March 2025 that placed Federighi and Mike Rockwell, a key player in the Vision Pro, at the forefront of Siri’s new direction.
A loss of influence that had been brewing. According to Bloomberg, Tim Cook’s trust in Giannandrea suffered after the numerous delays in the development of the Apple Intelligence functions promised during WWDC 2024. In a meeting with his team, the manager admitted that the delays were “ugly.” After the change in leadership in 2025, a good part of his functions began to be left in the hands of other managers, while he maintained other tasks in research into AI and robotics technologies.
The landing of Amar Subramanya. Apple has hired Amar Subramanya as vice president of AI after his time as corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft and 16 years at Google, where he was responsible for engineering the Gemini assistant. According to the official note, Subramanya will take charge of key areas such as Apple Foundation Models, machine learning research and AI Safety and Evaluation teams. He will report directly to Craig Federighi, thus reinforcing his weight in the artificial intelligence strategy. The rest of the organization linked to this area will be under the supervision of Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue, a cast that seeks to align responsibilities with their respective departments.
Giannandrea’s retirement and the arrival of new managers mark a turning point for Apple in its AI strategy. The company is now aiming for a more defined structure, with Craig Federighi at the center of the project and Amar Subramanya leading key areas. The challenge will be to convert this reorganization into visible improvements for users in an area that is advancing at great speed.
Images | Apple
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