CUPERTINO, California — Apple has appointed veteran artificial intelligence researcher Amar Subramanya as its new vice president of AI, placing him under the leadership of Craig Federighi as the tech giant deepens its push into advanced machine learning and next-generation Apple Intelligence features.
The move comes as John Giannandrea, Apple’s senior vice president for Machine Learning and AI Strategy, prepares to step down. Apple said Giannandrea will transition into an advisory role before retiring in the spring of 2026.
Apple said Subramanya will oversee major pillars of its AI work, including Apple Foundation Models, machine learning research, and AI safety and evaluation. The company added that the remainder of Giannandrea’s organization will shift to Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue to better align with their operational areas.
Subramanya most recently served as corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft and previously spent 16 years at Google. At Google, he led engineering for the Gemini Assistant before departing for Microsoft. Apple noted that his deep background in ML research and his experience integrating that research into consumer products will be central to the company’s AI roadmap.
“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,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said. “We are pleased to welcome Amar to Craig’s leadership team and to bring his extraordinary AI expertise to Apple.”
Cook added that Federighi has been instrumental in driving Apple’s AI initiatives, including the work to deliver a more personalized Siri experience expected next year.
Giannandrea, who joined Apple in 2018, has been a key architect of the company’s AI and ML strategy. Under his leadership, Apple built a world-class team responsible for Apple Foundation Models, Search and Knowledge, ML research and AI infrastructure.
With Giannandrea laying the groundwork, Federighi’s expanded role and Subramanya’s technical expertise are expected to propel Apple’s next phase of AI development, aimed at delivering more intelligent, trusted and personalized user experiences. (Source: IANS)
