Apple shakes up AI leadership as Tim Cook loses confidence in Siri chief

Apple Inc. is experiencing an uncharacteristic upheaval in its ranks of executives as the company tries to get back up to speed on artificial intelligence (AI) development after months of delay and missteps. 

According to people familiar with the matter, Tim Cook decided to overhaul leadership in the firm’s AI divisions after losing confidence that AI chief John Giannandrea was the right person to lead important product innovations.

Vision Pro architect Mike Rockwell takes over Siri

In a notable development, Cook has directed the creation of Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, under Mike Rockwell, who had previously overseen work on Vision Pro. This decision is the latest sign that the tech needs to urgently remake its AI strategy, following criticism that the company is falling behind rivals.

Rockwell will now report to Craig Federighi, the software chief, in a move that removes Siri from Giannandrea’s controls. The changes are expected to be made public to employees this week.

Apple’s top brass, aka the “Top 100,” met at the company’s secretive annual offsite summit recently to debate the company’s future, and AI was at the center of those discussions. The move reflects the mounting pressure on the tech firm to provide AI-powered innovations that can rival those from industry leaders.

Despite AI being a major marketing point of the iPhone 16, Apple’s AI has been widely criticized for being underwhelming. Then there’s the new Apple Intelligence platform, which will launch later than expected and, when it does, is unlikely to attract consumers’ attention. 

Siri’s long-anticipated improvements, including deeper integration with users’ data for more customized responses, have also repeatedly fallen behind schedule.

Apple had hyped these new Siri features for months, trying to stimulate sales of the iPhone 16, but the technology still wasn’t ready. The company was even forced to announce additional delays earlier this month, causing internal frustration. The Apple executive Robby Walker, who led Siri, reportedly described the delays as “ugly” in a recent team meeting, saying there was widespread disappointment among staff.

Apple’s trouble with AI coincides with a wider downturn in tech stocks; its shares have slid 14% this year. On Thursday, the company’s stock fell less than 1% to $214.62 in midday trading in New York.

Why Apple is betting on Rockwell

Rockwell, who serves as the vice president of Apple’s Vision Products Group (VPG), has been recognized as a problem solver and a proponent of groundbreaking technology. He was a key figure in the creation of the Vision Pro headset, which, while a technological marvel, has not yet found commercial success.

He is Apple’s first such hire, and his appointment represents a shift in the company’s strategy toward AI. Rockwell, unlike Giannandrea, is not a former Google executive with long-standing knowledge of the AI research field; he has no background in heading up AI teams. However, Apple is increasingly presenting Vision Pro and other hardware innovations as “AI products,” indicating a strategy that emphasizes the part of AI that specifies hardware rather than simply innovations based on software.

As Rockwell steps up to his new position, Paul Meade—previously leading Vision Pro’s hardware engineering—will take over management of the Vision Products Group going forward.

Apple reshapes Siri leadership amid AI push

Since its launch in 2011, Siri has suffered a long-running series of engineering and performance problems. After all, the digital assistant has had so many leaders throughout the years, from Scott Forstall, who headed its software, to Eddy Cue, who ran services, to Federighi and Giannandrea in 2018. Now, with Rockwell in charge and Federighi once again overseeing the division, Apple is looking for a fresh start.

Giannandrea is still at Apple, but his focus is shifting away from Siri’s day-to-day operations. He’ll continue to lead research and other AI-focused efforts at Meta, including a robotics-centric team. However, the tech firm’s hesitance to lose Giannandrea indicates an intention to be consistent as it reorganizes its AI division.

Apple has been preparing for this leadership transition for months. For example, he’s worked on using analytics to help develop what he’s built at Apple. Last year, the company hired a veteran who’d successfully executed complex development projects before—Kim Vorrath—to come help the Siri shop. More recently, a different Rockwell lieutenant, Aimee Nugent, was transferred to assess and assist the Siri group.

Rockwell himself has been outspoken about Siri’s failings and called for a more personalized, intelligent assistant. Brad said that during the development of the Vision Pro, he had imagined Siri playing a central role in controlling the device, but those plans didn’t come to fruition at launch.

With Apple Intelligence coming to the Vision Pro through a software update in April, Rockwell’s recent hands-on session with AI-powered technology could be decisive. As the tech firm seeks to reposition itself as a player in AI, the industry and investors will closely watch the success of his tenure.

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