Apple’s Head of AI John Giannandrea Leaves Company This Week

Apple’s former head of AI, John Giannandrea, is set to leave the company this week. Giannandrea’s departure follows the arrival of his final stock vesting date.

As first reported by Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, Giannandrea is leaving the company as head of AI after having his role truncated over the past year. In the latest Power On newsletter, Gurman notes that Giannandrea’s exit arrives as Apple’s next vesting date falls on April 15. Software chief Craig Federighi, services lead Eddy Cue, and operating chief Sabih Khan are collectively taking over Giannandrea’s responsibilities across Apple’s foundation models, AI technology testing and more.

Giannandrea first joined Apple in 2018. After leaving Google, Giannandrea became one of 16 executives to report directly to CEO Tim Cook. Over the years, Giannandrea was involved in the later-cancelled Apple car project. However, as the former head of AI, Giannandrea was responsible for leading the team on the Apple Intelligence Siri overhaul.

In March of last year, Apple drastically reduced Giannandrea’s role following a middling launch of Apple Intelligence and ongoing hurdles revolving around the overhyped Siri improvements. Giannandrea ultimately stepped from overseeing Siri, the robotics projects and other AI initiatives in 2025. By the end of the year, Apple announced Giannandrea would be retiring in 2026.

Giannandrea stayed at Apple over the past few months as an advisor. At the time of his retirement announcement, CEO Tim Cook said, “We are thankful for the role John played in building and advancing our AI work, helping Apple continue to innovate and enrich the lives of our users.”

Furthermore, Gurman provided some clarity behind Giannandrea’s struggles within the company. “The truth is that the top of Apple is run like a small family business with few decision-makers. And if you’re not in the inner circle — which is nearly impossible to crack — you’re simply not empowered enough to drive real change at the company.”

Apple is reportedly testing a standalone app for its Siri overhaul. The AI-powered refresh of Siri is said to be unveiled during Apple’s WWDC on June 8 with a targetted launch as part of iOS 27 and macOS 27 later this year.