Let’s be real about the timing. This move follows internal pressure. Reports said deadlines for Apple Intelligence features were slipping. They teased a big, personalized Siri upgrade—it got delayed. Again. That happened. And then the senior leaders had to have private discussions about what was going on.
The concern is simple: Apple is lagging. Competitors like Google and Microsoft are stuffing AI into everything. Apple, historically cautious and focused on privacy, has been too slow on the core generative AI capabilities. Giannandrea was instrumental in building the initial teams, sure. But the current pressure? It forced a change.
The New Mandate: Foundation Models and Federighi
Subramanya is a huge get. He spent 16 years at Google, including being the head of engineering for the Gemini assistant. He had a brief, but notable, stint leading AI at Microsoft, too. He’s a veteran, someone who knows how to translate deep research into a mass-market product.
He reports directly to software chief Craig Federighi. That’s a key detail. It links the AI development right up with the software platforms—iOS, macOS, visionOS. The idea is simple: accelerate progress.
Jotting down Subramanya’s core focus:
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Foundation Models: The brains behind the next wave of features.
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Machine Learning Research: Pushing the cutting edge.
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AI Safety: Because Apple has to maintain that privacy-first stance.
The Vision Pro architect, Mike Rockwell, is already running the Siri development now, so those responsibilities were split off from Giannandrea a while ago.
Tim Cook framed this as part of a “broader strategy.” It’s a commitment to that personalized Siri arriving next year. They’re positioning this leadership change as the step they needed for faster results. The transition is happening now, with Giannandrea sticking around as an adviser until early next year. But the new era of Apple AI? It’s officially ongoing.
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