Apple shakes up AI leadership, puts Siri in new hands
What's the story
In a major executive reshuffle, Apple is trying to strengthen its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts, especially concerning the Siri virtual assistant.
According to Bloomberg, CEO Tim Cook has lost faith in the product development skills of AI head John Giannandrea.
Now, Mike Rockwell, the mind behind Apple's Vision Pro headset, has been named the new head for Siri.
New assignment
Rockwell's new role and responsibilities
In his new role, Rockwell will directly report to Craig Federighi, Apple's software chief. This move completely eliminates Siri from Giannandrea's supervision.
Rockwell, who previously served as the vice president of Apple's Vision Products Group (VPG), will now lead efforts to improve Siri's capabilities.
His move marks a major change in leadership within Apple's AI division.
AI challenges
Apple's AI technology lags behind competitors
Apple's secretive internal group, dubbed the "Top 100," recently met to discuss the company's future, with AI developments being a major focus.
Despite being a key selling point for iPhone 16, Apple's Intelligence platform was delayed and underwhelming.
The company is reportedly grappling with its AI technology trailing behind industry competitors and has shown little indication of catching up anytime soon.
Team transition
Vision Pro software teams to join Federighi's group
As part of this restructuring, Rockwell will exit the VPG, and the Vision Pro software teams will join Federighi's software engineering group.
Meanwhile, the hardware team shall remain under John Ternus and report to Paul Meade, a hardware engineering executive who worked on the Vision Pro.
This transition is intended to improve Apple's AI efforts and enhance Siri's performance.
Feature delays
Siri's new features delayed
Apple has struggled to launch new features for Siri, including the ability to use a user's data to answer questions, which were announced last June.
Even though the tech isn't ready, Apple promoted these improvements for months on TV to sell the iPhone 16.
After development issues came to light earlier this month, Apple further delayed these features' release.