Apple just announced that Amar Subramany, a veteran engineer from Google and Microsoft, is taking over as their new AI chief. John Giannandrea, who led AI and ML strategies for seven years, is stepping down in early 2026.
This comes at a pretty critical time. Apple's been getting heat for lagging behind in AI - they even pushed back the advanced Siri until 2026. Meanwhile, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI have been moving at lightning speed with their models.
What's interesting is that Apple's bringing in someone with deep experience from the companies that are currently winning the AI race. Subramany has seen how both Google and Microsoft scaled their AI efforts, so he knows what works.
Is leadership the real issue, or is Apple's approach to AI fundamentally different? They've always prioritized privacy and on-device processing, which might limit how aggressive they can be with cloud-based AI.
