Apple names former Microsoft, Google exec to succeed retiring AI chief

Apple’s artificial intelligence chief takes a step backThe company announced Monday that it’s the iPhone maker’s most visible change yet to its artificial intelligence group since it launched its Apple Intelligence suite in 2024.

John Giannandrea, who has held the post since joining the company in 2018, will be replaced by artificial intelligence researcher Amar Subramanya, who most recently worked for Microsoft and was previously part of Google’s DeepMind AI unit, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Giannandrea was senior vice president and reported to Apple CEO Tim Cook. He will continue to serve as a consultant until his retirement next spring, Apple said.

The change comes as experts say this year that Apple is lagging behind tech peers on artificial intelligence, a tech area that has seen a resurgence since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022.

Apple Intelligence, which aims to put Apple alongside AI leaders like OpenAI and Google, has not been adequately scrutinized by users and critics. Earlier this year, development difficulties were signaled when one of its most critical aspects, the significantly improved Siri assistant, was delayed until 2026.

Subramanya will serve as Apple’s vice president of artificial intelligence and report to software chief Craig Federighi, the company said.

Federighi already plays a key role in Apple’s artificial intelligence efforts, Cook said in a statement.

“Craig has been instrumental in driving our AI efforts, including growing the leadership team and AI responsibilities with Amar’s addition, as well as overseeing our work to deliver a more personalized Siri to users next year,” Cook said in a statement.

Subramanya will lead teams working on Apple’s core models, research and AI security. Apple said other teams previously under Giannandrea will move under the direction of COO Sabih Khan and service chief Eddy Cue.

Although Apple shares are up 16% in 2025, it has outpaced many other major tech companies as investors say the iPhone maker lags peers investing billions in AI chips and pioneering AI models.

Apple announced in August that it had “significantly increased” the amount it spent on artificial intelligence, and Cook said it was a “profound” technology. Apple has struck a deal with leader OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into some of its products, such as Siri.

But Apple is playing a different game than companies like Microsoft, Google and Meta. It spends much less money on technology infrastructure. Apple also prefers to have AI run on its own devices rather than communicating with more powerful computers in the cloud.

Apple this year also saw legendary hardware designer Jony Ive, whose co-founder Steve Jobs helped invent the iPhone, sell his startup io to OpenAI for $6.4 billion to help the AI ​​lab launch its own hardware.

Analysts say Apple has built a loyalty moat among customers since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, but AI-powered hardware is on the way, with Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman saying last month that they had completed their first prototypes and could unveil them in two years or less.