According to PYMNTS.com, Apple is revamping its AI leadership, with longtime AI chief John Giannandrea moving to an advisory role before retiring in spring 2026. Former Microsoft AI leader and Google Gemini Assistant builder Amar Subramanya is being promoted to report directly to software boss Craig Federighi. Subramanya will oversee Apple Foundation Models, machine learning research, and AI safety. The rest of Giannandrea’s team is moving under operations and services chiefs Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue. This reshuffle comes as Apple delays key Apple Intelligence features for iOS and iPadOS and struggles with a bug-ridden, next-generation Siri. Reports also indicate Apple is nearing a $1 billion-a-year deal to use Google’s AI models as a stopgap to upgrade Siri.
The stakes for users
So, what does this mean if you’re an Apple user? Basically, your experience with Siri and new “Apple Intelligence” features probably hasn’t lived up to the hype yet. And this leadership change is a clear sign Apple knows it. The article points to “inaccurate AI-generated news alerts” and pulled features, which is a bad look for a company that sells privacy and reliability. The promise of a “more personalized Siri” next year now rests on this new team’s ability to ship stable, useful code. If they can’t, the gap between Apple’s marketing and reality will just keep widening. That’s a fast way to erode trust.
The bigger strategic gamble
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just about a slightly smarter assistant. Apple is betting its entire ecosystem on this. PYMNTS frames generative AI as “the operating system for consumer engagement,” touching everything from shopping to payments. If Siri and Apple Intelligence remain clunky or unreliable, it weakens Apple’s hold on those lucrative service layers. The reported $1 billion deal with Google is the ultimate tell. It screams that Apple’s in-house models aren’t ready for prime time. Promoting Subramanya, with his track record of “turning research into products,” is a direct attempt to fix that core problem. But it’s a high-stakes race against time and competitors who are already miles ahead.
What this means for the industry
This move confirms the open secret: Apple is playing catch-up in the AI arms race. For developers and enterprises building on Apple’s platforms, it creates uncertainty. Will the tools and APIs be powerful and timely? The internal reshuffling and delays suggest there’s still a lot of internal engineering work to be done before a solid foundation is ready for others to build upon. It also highlights how critical hardware-software integration is for Apple’s AI approach. They can’t just bolt on a cloud model; it has to work seamlessly on-device. That’s a harder problem, but it’s also their potential advantage—if they can finally execute.
