Apple Inc. will be moving its secret robotics unit out of the control of its artificial intelligence chief as part of the company’s efforts to address its AI struggles.
The robotics team will be relocated from John Giannandrea’s AI organization to the hardware division by the end of this month, according to sources familiar with the move. This move will place the team under the leadership of Senior Vice President John Ternus, who is responsible for hardware engineering, said the sources, who preferred to remain anonymous as the change has not been made public.
This shift will be the second major project taken away from Giannandrea in recent weeks. In March, the struggling Siri voice assistant was removed from his oversight. These changes are part of a broader effort to catch up in artificial intelligence, where Apple has fallen behind competitors like Google and OpenAI.
Giannandrea, who is a former Google executive and currently serves as senior vice president of machine learning and artificial intelligence strategy, will continue to lead most of Apple’s AI efforts. The move will allow his team to focus more on foundational artificial intelligence technology, according to the sources.
An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on these changes.
The Siri engineering unit has been taken over by Mike Rockwell, who previously led hardware and software development for the Vision Pro headset. Meanwhile, the robotics team, led by Kevin Lynch, is working on ways to use AI technologies to power devices, potentially paving the way for a new product category.
Apple plans to release a tabletop robot as part of the robotics project, along with other mobile machines. These products are designed to be telepresence devices, allowing users to videoconference with others.
As robots become one of the most exciting fields in Silicon Valley, Apple is ramping up its efforts in robotics and smart home technologies to stay competitive in the AI-driven market.
Ternus, who oversees hardware engineering for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro, and other products, is seen as a key figure in managing these projects. Many believe he could be Apple’s next CEO, which could coincide with the rise of robotics as a mainstream technology.
Ternus now has control over key AI operating system and algorithms teams, a departure from the typical hardware engineering department structure. This realignment of teams suggests that Apple is intensifying its focus on robotics and smart home technologies.
Giannandrea’s team will now have more freedom to focus on developing models for future Apple products, including enhancements to Apple Intelligence and Siri.
The AI and machine learning group within Apple has faced challenges due to delays in Siri features and a slow pace of engineering and development. Despite these setbacks, Giannandrea has not indicated any plans to depart from the company.
