In a departure that took almost as long as Siri needs to find some obscure music requests, Apple has announced a new vice president of AI: Amar Subramanya, who will replace former AI chief John Giannandrea.
Subramanya will report directly to Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president for software engineering. Giannandrea will “transition to an advisory role” pending planned retirement next year. Certain roles previously occupied by Giannandrea will be shifted to Apple COO Sabih Khan and Senior Vice President for Services Eddy Cue. Subramanya will lead Apple Intelligence and Siri’s next chapters.
“We are thankful for the role John played in building and advancing our AI work, helping Apple continue to innovate and enrich the lives of our users,” Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said in a statement. “AI has long been central to Apple’s strategy, and we are pleased to welcome Amar to Craig’s leadership team and to bring his extraordinary AI expertise to Apple. In addition to growing his leadership team and AI responsibilities with Amar’s joining, Craig has been instrumental in driving our AI efforts, including overseeing our work to bring a more personalized Siri to users next year.”