Apple names ex-Google, Microsoft exec as new AI chief

Apple’s artificial intelligence chief, John Giannandrea, will step down and serve as an adviser before retiring in spring 2026.

Amar Subramanya, who previously worked at Microsoft and Google’s DeepMind, will take over leadership of Apple’s AI division and report to Craig Federighi.

Some AI teams previously under Giannandrea will now report to other Apple executives.

The leadership change follows criticism that Apple has fallen behind competitors in AI since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022.

Development of the enhanced Siri assistant was delayed to 2026. Apple has increased its spending on AI.

The company also reached a deal to integrate ChatGPT into some of its products.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Apple keeps AI capital expenditures (capex) low with a hybrid of in-house and partner compute

Rivals poured cash into AI in one quarter. Amazon spent $125 billion, Meta $71 billion, and Microsoft $34.9 billion. Apple put in $12.7 billion for fiscal 2025 1.
The company runs a hybrid setup. It buys compute from partners and builds first‑party servers with Apple silicon for Private Cloud Compute, Apple’s server-side AI architecture designed to process user data on Apple-controlled hardware with privacy protections 1.
Chip plans span Nvidia GB300 NVL72 systems, reportedly up to $1 billion 2. The mix also includes Amazon’s Trainium2, Amazon Web Services’ AI training chip 2. Google’s TPUs, Tensor Processing Units that are Google’s custom AI accelerators, plus custom Broadcom chips round out the list 2.
Forecasts put capex at about $14.3 billion this fiscal year, according to FactSet, a financial data provider 1. That remains far below peers.

Third‑party developers can move early before Apple’s AI rollout is complete

Siri’s enhanced version is delayed until 2026, and ChatGPT integration is confirmed 1. That gives third‑party app makers a 12 to 18 month window to build relationships before Apple’s native tools mature.
The Foundation Models framework, Apple’s developer toolkit for adding on-device AI with minimal code, enables on-device experiences 3. Availability is limited to Apple Intelligence-compatible devices, Apple’s new suite of generative AI features, in supported regions 4.
Apps in health and fitness, education, plus productivity use the framework for workout generation plus document summarization 5.
Plan launch timing around Apple’s staged rollout. Features arrive in fall 2025, with more languages added later 4.