Apple AI Chief John Giannandrea Departs Amid Leadership Exodus

Apple’s AI chief John Giannandrea has departed — part of the biggest leadership shake-up since Steve Jobs.

The Problem

Leadership lost confidence Giannandrea could turn AI research into products. He waffled on key Siri architecture decisions.

The Exodus

• Mike Rockwell (Vision Products) → Meta
• Key ML Engineers → OpenAI, Anthropic
• Johny Srouji (Chip Chief) — AT RISK, considering departure

When your best AI talent leaves for competitors, it’s a vote of no confidence in the strategy.

For the complete strategic analysis, read The AI Intelligence Gap Inside Apple on The Business Engineer.