Apple’s new AI chief quits weeks after appointment, joins Meta in major Silicon Valley talent war

Apple

Apple’s struggles to hold on to its top artificial intelligence talent are showing no signs of slowing down. The latest to exit is Ke Yang, who was only recently appointed to lead Apple’s new AI team working on a ChatGPT-like search tool. Yang is reportedly joining Meta, which has been aggressively hiring AI experts from Apple and other Silicon Valley rivals.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Yang was heading Apple’s Answers, Knowledge and Information (AKI) group—a team formed earlier this year to make Siri smarter and more conversational, with the ability to pull information directly from the web. His exit comes just weeks after he was promoted to lead the entire AKI division, following the departure of Robby Walker, who had been overseeing Siri’s long-delayed revamp.

Yang’s move is part of a broader “brain drain” at Apple, which has seen several senior researchers and executives defect to competing AI firms. In recent months, Meta has hired multiple key figures from Apple’s AI unit, including Jian Zhang (former lead researcher for robotics), Ruoming Pang (who led the foundation models team), and Frank Chu, who worked on AI infrastructure and search.

Apple’s internal restructuring and delays in rolling out its Apple Intelligence features have reportedly frustrated many employees. The new Siri experience, initially expected to debut in March next year, has already faced multiple setbacks. Meanwhile, Apple’s senior vice president of AI, John Giannandrea, is said to have a reduced role, with the company reportedly seeking new leadership to revive its AI strategy.

Meta, on the other hand, appears to be moving full steam ahead—building one of Silicon Valley’s strongest AI teams and integrating advanced generative tools across its apps, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

With Yang’s departure, Apple’s already shaky AI ambitions face another major setback—raising questions about who will now lead its efforts to catch up in the fast-moving world of generative AI.