Apple has announced a major leadership change within its artificial intelligence division, hiring former Microsoft and Google CEO Amar Subramanya to replace longtime AI chief John Giannandrea. The transition is the most significant shakeup in Apple’s AI ranks since the launch of its Apple Intelligence suite in 2024, and comes at a time when the company faces increasing scrutiny over its position in the AI ​​race. Why is Apple changing its AI leadership now? John Giannandrea, who joined Apple in 2018 and served as Senior Vice President of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, will step down from his role and retire next spring. Apple said it will remain an advisor until then. The decision comes during a period of heightened pressure for Apple, as analysts and industry experts increasingly argue that the company is trailing rivals such as Microsoft, Google and Meta in advanced AI development. Apple Intelligence — intended to reassert Apple as a competitive force after the AI ​​resurgence sparked by ChatGPT in 2022 — struggled to impress. Users and critics have given the system lukewarm reviews, and one of its centerpiece features, a vastly improved Siri assistant, has been delayed until 2026. The delay was widely seen as evidence of internal development obstacles. Who is Amar Subramanya? Amar Subramanya is an AI researcher with a career spanning some of the world’s most influential technology companies. Before joining Apple, he most recently worked at Microsoft and previously spent time at Google’s DeepMind unit — one of the industry’s leading AI research groups — according to his LinkedIn profile. At Apple, Subramanya will assume the role of vice president of AI and report directly to Craig Federighi, the company’s senior vice president of software engineering. Apple confirmed that he will lead teams responsible for foundational models, AI research and AI safety, while responsibilities previously overseen by Giannandrea will be redistributed to Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan and Chief Services Officer Eddy Cue. In a statement praising the structural shift, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Federighi had already been “instrumental” in guiding the company’s AI ambitions. “In addition to expanding his leadership team and AI responsibilities with Amar’s joining, Craig has been instrumental in driving our AI efforts, including overseeing our work to bring a more personalized Siri to users next year,” Cook said. Is Apple behind its AI competitors? Although Apple shares are up 16% in 2025, they still lag behind those of its tech peers — many of which are deploying billions in AI data centers, proprietary chips and frontier scale models. Analysts argue that Apple’s more conservative approach to infrastructure investment has caused the company to catch up. Apple has emphasized that it is “significantly increasing” its AI spending, and Cook has repeatedly described AI as a “groundbreaking” technology. The company has also entered into an agreement with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its products, including Siri. However, Apple remains committed to a distinctive strategy: favoring on-device processing instead of cloud-based computing, a choice that prioritizes privacy and efficiency but requires highly optimized models. How does this shift fit into Apple’s broader AI ambitions? The company’s AI story in 2025 was shaped not only by internal restructuring, but also by external developments. Jony Ive — Apple’s former chief designer and one of the architects of the iPhone — has sold his hardware startup to OpenAI for $6.4 billion, with plans to help the AI ​​lab develop its own hardware. Early prototypes, Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, are already complete and could debut within two years. That raises questions about how Apple will maintain its hardware dominance as rivals accelerate toward AI-specific devices. Industry analysts argue that while Apple has built an unparalleled brand of loyalty since the iPhone’s debut in 2007, the next big hardware shift may be driven by artificial intelligence rather than traditional mobile innovation — making leadership changes like Subramanya’s particularly consequential.