Apple loses key AI researchers as 10 team members join rivals

Apple’s AI talent exodus has accelerated with four new high-profile departures to rival companies, including the loss of its Lead AI Researcher for Robotics to Meta. The brain drain threatens Apple’s efforts to catch up in artificial intelligence and could force the company to rely more heavily on external partnerships rather than homegrown AI development.

What you should know: Meta has successfully recruited Jian Zhang, Apple’s Lead AI Researcher for Robotics, to join its Robotics Studio despite the company’s broader hiring freeze.

• Zhang led a small team of academics focused on automation technology and AI’s role in robotics products at Apple.
• His team had already experienced turnover, with one of his reports, Mario Srouji, leaving for Archer Aviation, an electric aircraft company, in April.
• This follows Meta’s earlier poaching of Frank Chu, who led Apple AI teams focused on cloud infrastructure, training and search.

The bigger picture: Apple’s Foundation Models team, which was central to creating the Apple Intelligence platform, has lost roughly 10 members including its chief in recent weeks.

• Three engineers from this core team departed simultaneously: John Peebles and Nan Du joined OpenAI, while Zhao Meng moved to Anthropic, an AI safety company.
• The Foundation Models team was instrumental in Apple’s bid to catch up in AI through the Apple Intelligence platform launched last year.

Why this matters: The talent hemorrhage is forcing Apple to reconsider its AI strategy and explore alternatives to purely internal development.

• Apple is now discussing internally whether to rely more on outside technology rather than just homegrown models.
• The company is considering splashy acquisitions, with names like Mistral, a French AI startup, and Perplexity, an AI-powered search company, in the mix.
• Apple is also exploring partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google to develop models needed for the revamped, AI-driven Siri unveiled at WWDC24 but never brought to market.

Competitive landscape: Meta’s ability to attract Apple talent despite its hiring freeze demonstrates the intense competition for AI expertise.

• The departures suggest Apple may be struggling to retain top AI talent compared to competitors like Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
• This talent migration could accelerate rivals’ AI development while potentially slowing Apple’s internal capabilities.