Apple’s robotics team now works for John Ternus
A new report suggests that Apple CEO Tim Cook has lost faith in his AI/ML chief John Giannandrea and is shifting the robotics team to hardware headed by John Ternus.
Apple has been rearranging some of its teams after making a publicly embarrassing move to delay contextual Apple Intelligence features. The Siri team moved to be placed under Mike Rockwell, the Apple Vision Pro chief.
It seems that wasn’t the only internal move planned by Apple, as Bloomberg reports the robotics team is moving out from under the AI/ML organization. It will instead be under the hardware division, which is led by John Ternus.
These moves haven’t changed John Giannandrea’s position as SVP of AI and ML at Apple, but it indicates Apple CEO Tim Cook is taking a different strategy with the refocus. It seems Giannandrea’s team will build the underlying models that will run future technologies, including the robots and Siri, but work independently of the other teams.
However, rumors from the sources providing these details suggest Cook could be planning a total break-up of the AI and ML team. It could mean Giannandrea being assigned to a new position or leaving the company altogether.
Rethinking AI
The motivations of these moves aren’t known and can only be guessed at beyond the obvious catalyst of the embarrassing AI delays. Cook could be trying to ensure Giannandrea and his team aren’t spread too thin while ensuring robotics hardware is prioritized and Siri is developed independently.
On the other hand, the AI and ML team could be seen as redundant as Apple rethinks Apple Intelligence and its role at the company. Rather than treating AI as a separate product line, it could be being seen as an underlying framework.
Think app versus operating system.
For example, the robotic arm will rely on AI for specific kinds of interactions and data, but the robot itself isn’t AI hardware. The same goes for Siri, which would call out to AI tools for answers and summaries, but itself isn’t an LLM, not yet anyway.
Whether that approach requires a specific team dedicated to building the underlying models, or if each department can build their own models, remains to be seen. Time will reveal Apple’s strategy as more moves are made public and whether Giannandrea sticks around.