Apple Loses Key AI Leader to Meta as Siri Development Faces Headwinds

Bloomberg reports that Ke Yang, recently appointed head of Apple's Answers, Knowledge and Information (AKI) team, has departed the company to join Meta. This marks another high-profile exit from Apple's artificial intelligence division during a critical phase of Siri's overhaul.

Image source note: The image is AI-generated, and the image licensing service provider is Midjourney

Strategic Role in Siri Revamp

The AKI team represents a cornerstone of Apple's strategy to transform its voice assistant into a competitive generative AI product. Tasked with enhancing Siri's intelligence and web-sourcing capabilities—features comparable to ChatGPT—the group was preparing to roll out delayed functionalities including:

• Advanced request processing
• Improved personal data utilization
• Next-generation answer generation systems

Yang reported directly to John Giannandrea, Apple's Senior VP of Machine Learning and AI Strategy. Before leading AKI, he spearheaded search-related projects within the company's combined AI/ML and Siri engineering groups.

Growing Talent Drain Concerns

The departure follows several notable exits from Apple's Foundation Models research unit:

• Ruoming Pang (team founder/chief scientist) → Meta Superintelligence Labs
• Sam Wiseman → Meta
• Chong Wang → Meta

Industry analysts note this pattern suggests structural challenges retaining top AI talent amid fierce competition from rivals offering more specialized research environments.

Leadership Transition Plan

Benoit Dupin, Giannandrea's assistant specializing in ML cloud infrastructure, will assume leadership of the AKI team. The appointment underscores Apple's focus on backend systems as it works to close gaps with competitors like:

• OpenAI (ChatGPT)
• Google (Gemini)
• Anthropic (Claude)

The reshuffle comes as Apple prepares for WWDC 2026, where significant AI announcements are expected across its ecosystem.

Key Points:

🌟 Executive Shift: Ke Yang's move to Meta follows multiple departures from Apple's core AI teams
🛠️ Development Pressure: AKI team must deliver enhanced Siri capabilities amid leadership changes
🚀 Competitive Race: Apple faces mounting pressure to match generative AI advancements by rivals