(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. is experiencing an unusual overhaul in its executive team as it seeks to revitalize its artificial intelligence initiatives after facing numerous delays and setbacks, according to sources close to the matter.
Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook lacks confidence in AI lead John Giannandrea’s ability to drive product development forward. To address this, he has appointed another senior executive, Mike Rockwell, known for developing the Vision Pro, to oversee Siri, as per insiders who requested anonymity due to the unofficial nature of the changes.
Rockwell will now report to software chief Craig Federighi, fully removing Siri from Giannandrea’s purview. Apple communicated these alterations to its staff on Thursday, following Bloomberg’s initial report.
The company’s senior leadership team, known as the Top 100, recently convened for their annual offsite meeting to discuss future strategies, with AI developments being a significant focus during the discussions, as reported by Bloomberg.
These executive changes reflect Apple’s ongoing struggles, as its AI technology is falling behind that of its competitors, and there are few indications that it will catch up soon. The Apple Intelligence platform was delayed and ultimately did not meet expectations, despite being heavily marketed as a key feature for the iPhone 16.
Rockwell, currently VP of the Vision Products Group, will depart that team, although the Vision Pro software teams will move with him to Federighi’s software engineering group. The hardware team will remain under John Ternus and report to Paul Meade, another hardware engineer involved with Vision Pro.
Apple has acknowledged the urgency of revamping Siri, as it has struggled to deliver promised new features since June, including those that utilize user data for queries. Following multiple development challenges, the timeline for these updates has been extended again this month. Meanwhile, Apple shares have dropped 15% this year.
