The phrase “AI talent wars” is far from a casual expression; it aptly captures the escalating and highly competitive struggle among technology companies to attract, retain, and poach the most brilliant minds in the field of artificial intelligence. Over the past year, this race for intellectual capital has reached unprecedented levels of intensity, as major players in the tech industry—colloquially referred to as Big Tech—have been aggressively courting both seasoned executives and cutting-edge researchers. The result has been a flurry of high-profile job changes and strategic departures, a phenomenon that has not spared even industry giants such as Apple.

Apple, long regarded as one of the most innovative and secretive firms in Silicon Valley, has experienced the loss of more than a dozen professionals directly involved in its AI initiatives. The departures have spanned nearly every level of the corporate hierarchy, from senior executives and high-ranking scientists to experienced engineers. Even John Giannandrea—Apple’s chief of artificial intelligence, senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy, and a pivotal figure in shaping the company’s long-term strategy—announced this week that he would step down from his leading role. Giannandrea’s decision, while accompanied by a continued advisory relationship until his planned retirement in the spring of 2026, symbolizes an important shift within the firm’s AI leadership structure.

One company, however, appears to be benefiting disproportionately from this exodus: Meta. Mark Zuckerberg’s firm has effectively positioned itself as the primary landing pad for former Apple employees, drawing them into its rapidly advancing AI ecosystem. Out of the many Apple alumni who have left this year, at least nine have found new homes at Meta, where Zuckerberg is renowned for offering exceptionally generous compensation packages and performance-driven incentives that few competitors can match. These offers, accompanied by Meta’s high-profile ambitions in AI research through its Superintelligence Labs and Reality Labs divisions, have proven irresistibly attractive to many of Apple’s former specialists. Others, meanwhile, have gravitated toward OpenAI, drawn by its leading role in the development of generative AI models and frontier-level research.

Despite these substantial losses, Apple has not remained passive in the face of industry-wide talent turbulence. The company continues to engage in significant recruiting efforts to replenish and strengthen its bench of AI thinkers. Its new vice president of artificial intelligence, Amar Subramanya, offers a case in point. Subramanya, previously at Google and briefly with Microsoft, joined Apple just months after those transitions, reflecting the restless movement and reshuffling that increasingly characterize the AI employment landscape. Additionally, Apple has made a noteworthy acquisition in the legal arena: Jennifer Newstead, who formerly served as Meta’s top legal counsel, will soon begin her tenure as Apple’s general counsel, replacing Kate Adams, who has served since 2017 and plans to retire later in 2026.

Below is an overview of Apple’s AI-related departures over the past year and their new professional destinations. These changes collectively illustrate the dynamic interplay of recruitment strategies, retention challenges, and competitive advantage that define the current AI economy.

**Executives:**
*John Giannandrea* – As Apple’s senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy for nearly eight years, Giannandrea guided numerous foundational initiatives. Though he plans to retire in the spring of 2026, he will continue advising the company until that time, ensuring a gradual and structured transition of leadership.

*Alan Dye* – Formerly the head of human interface design, Dye played an instrumental role in the conception and refinement of Apple’s software aesthetics and user experience. He will now bring his creative direction to Meta, where he is tasked with leading a newly formed creative studio within the Reality Labs division.

*Kate Adams* – Having served as Apple’s general counsel since 2017, Adams will be transitioning her legal responsibilities to Jennifer Newstead before retiring in 2026, marking another key handover in Apple’s senior leadership structure.

*Lisa Jackson* – As vice president for environment, policy, and social initiatives, Jackson has long embodied Apple’s commitment to sustainability and corporate responsibility. She is set to retire at the end of January 2026, closing a distinguished chapter in her career.

**AI Leaders and Researchers:**
*Frank Chu* – After nearly six years as Apple’s head of engineering, Chu has joined Meta, where he now serves as a software engineer in Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, contributing to advanced research initiatives.

*Ruoming Pang* – A senior distinguished engineer at Apple, Pang led its foundation models team, a group central to the company’s generative AI goals. He has transitioned to Meta as an AI research scientist, advancing similar pursuits.

*Robby Walker* – Formerly Apple’s senior director of answers, knowledge, and information, Walker announced his departure a month before officially leaving in October, signaling another notable loss in Apple’s AI ecosystem.

*Tom Gunter* – Having spent more than seven years at Apple as a distinguished engineer, Gunter relocated to Meta in July to continue his work there as an AI research scientist, reinforcing Meta’s research strength.

*Ke Yang* – Previously Apple’s senior director of machine learning for six years, Yang described his decision to leave as “bittersweet.” He now contributes to Meta’s advancement as an AI research scientist.

*Chong Wang* – Wang, a former distinguished scientist at Apple, similarly joined Meta as an AI research scientist, bringing high-level expertise in machine learning theory and application.

*Shuang Ma* – Previously serving as a senior research scientist at Apple, Ma has transitioned to Meta’s Superintelligence Labs as a research scientist, further bolstering the company’s human capital in frontier AI development.

*Liutong Zhou* – Zhou, once a senior applied machine learning scientist at Apple, has taken a different path by joining Cohere—a Canadian AI startup renowned for its focus on foundation models—as a member of its technical staff.

*Bowen Zhang* – Formerly a staff machine learning researcher at Apple, Zhang joined Meta in July, also taking on the role of AI research scientist.

*Mark Lee* – Once a research engineer at Apple, Lee now lends his skills to Meta as an AI research scientist, marking yet another migration to Meta’s expanding research divisions.

*Brandon McKinzie* – Previously serving as a senior research engineer specializing in foundational models at Apple, McKinzie joined OpenAI as a member of its technical staff, contributing to one of the world’s most influential AI research organizations.

*Dian Ang Yap* – A former machine learning researcher at Apple, Yap transitioned to OpenAI in August, likewise becoming part of its technical staff and continuing his work in machine learning research.

Collectively, these moves underscore the extraordinary volatility of the present AI labor market, where expertise has become both an invaluable currency and a catalyst for competitive differentiation. As firms like Apple, Meta, OpenAI, and others engage in ceaseless pursuit of the brightest minds, the overlapping waves of departures and arrivals reveal just how deeply artificial intelligence now influences not only technology but also corporate structure, leadership priorities, and the broader narrative of innovation shaping the digital era.

Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-execs-and-researchers-left-apple-mostly-for-meta-2025-12