Apple replaces long-time AI head John Giannandrea with industry veteran Amar Subramanya

Apple has appointed a new head of artificial intelligence as it shakes up its AI leadership. The company has announced that veteran AI expert Amar Subramanya will take on the role of VP of AI, in a move that will see John Giannandrea exit the position he’s held for the last five years.

Subramanya is a well-known name in the AI field. He previously worked at Microsoft as Corporate Vice President of AI. Before that, he was at Google for 16 years, during which he led engineering on Google’s generative-AI assistant project.

Subramanya’s remit at Apple is said to include the development of “foundation models” along with other machine-learning research and general AI strategy. He will report to Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software engineering.

Apple’s decision to shake up its AI leadership comes as the company has been criticized for a perceived lack of AI-powered features on its devices. Rivals such as Google, Microsoft, and Meta have moved much faster in incorporating generative-AI features into their software, including digital assistants, chatbots, and multi-tasking tools. Apple, by contrast, has been more reserved and more conservative in its use of these new tools.

Giannandrea’s replacement is said to be in part a result of frustration with the pace and implementation of these AI-powered features. The company earlier this year pushed back a major overhaul of its voice assistant Siri until 2026, as it sought to increase performance and reliability.

Giannandrea, who joined Apple in 2018, will remain on the payroll in an advisory role until his planned retirement next spring.

The decision to bring Subramanya on board in Giannandrea’s place is notable as he has deep experience in both product-ready AI at Microsoft and on the bleeding edge of AI research at Google. The company is said to be hoping that Subramanya’s background in both research and product-oriented engineering can help accelerate Apple’s AI strategy, including building scalable AI features that can be deployed on user-facing products.

Both Federighi and Apple CEO Tim Cook have said they expect Subramanya’s product focus to help the company in its efforts to build generative-AI products. Apple users and observers are likely to be looking to this new era in Apple’s AI strategy with interest, and will be hoping to see more and better AI-powered features rolling out on the company’s devices in the near future.