Apple Announces New AI Head

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Apple announced on December 1 that Amar Subramany, an experienced engineer from Google and Microsoft, is taking over as the company's new head of artificial intelligence, replacing John Giannandrea who has led Apple's AI efforts for seven years.

The change suggests that Apple is dissatisfied with the pace at which its AI capabilities are advancing relative to competitors. The company has faced criticism for being slow to integrate AI features into its devices, particularly the iPhone, while Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI have rapidly deployed advanced AI systems.

Giannandrea, who oversaw Apple's machine learning and AI strategy since 2018, is stepping down after the company repeatedly postponed launches of upgraded AI features. The most notable delay was the postponement of an improved version of the Siri digital assistant until 2026.

Subramany's background at two companies that have been pushing AI aggressively suggests Apple is attempting to accelerate its timeline. Microsoft has integrated AI into Office and Windows, Google has embedded AI across its products, while Apple has lagged behind.

The problem for Apple, in this aspect, is mostly structural. The company built its business on privacy and on-device processing, which works against the cloud-heavy AI infrastructure that drives most current AI capabilities. Most advanced AI requires massive server resources to function. Apple's philosophy is to process data on the device to protect user privacy.

Subramany will need to figure out how to make Apple's AI competitive without compromising the privacy guarantees that have become part of Apple's brand identity.