According to a Bloomberg News report, Robby Walker, one of Apple’s most senior artificial intelligence executives, is leaving the company. His departure comes as Apple’s cautious approach to AI has raised concerns that the tech giant might be falling behind in what could be the industry’s most significant growth wave in decades.
Apple has been slow to roll out its “Apple Intelligence” suite, which includes a ChatGPT integration. Furthermore, a long-awaited AI upgrade for Siri has been postponed until next year.
Since April of this year, Robby Walker has served as the senior director of the iPhone maker’s “Answers, Information and Knowledge” team. His LinkedIn profile shows that he has been with Apple since 2013.
The report indicates that he plans to leave Apple next month. Until earlier this year, Walker was in charge of Siri, before management of the voice assistant was handed over to software chief Craig Federighi.
Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the matter.
Recently, several of Apple’s AI executives have left to join Meta Platforms. According to a July Bloomberg report, this includes Ruoming Pang, Apple’s top executive in charge of AI models.
Meta has also recruited two other Apple AI researchers, Mark Lee and Tom Gunter, who worked closely with Pang, for its “Superintelligence Labs” team.
In March, Bloomberg had reported that Mike Rockwell, vice president of the Vision Products Group, would be in charge of the Siri virtual assistant. This was reportedly due to CEO Tim Cook losing confidence in AI head John Giannandrea’s ability to execute on product development.
At its annual product launch event last week, Apple introduced an upgraded line of iPhones and a slimmer iPhone Air, and maintained steady prices despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs that have negatively impacted the company’s profits.
However, the event offered little evidence of how Apple—a laggard in the AI race—plans to close the gap with competitors like Google, which showcased the capabilities of its Gemini AI model in its latest flagship phones.
