Meta bolsters its artificial intelligence expertise by hiring another researcher from Apple
Apple's AI division has been hit by a wave of high-profile departures, with key researchers like Ruoming Pang, Bowen Zhang, and others leaving the company to join Meta. This talent drain has caused uncertainty within Apple's overall AI strategy and raised questions about the future of its in-house AI team.
Pang, who was leading the AFM team, and three other researchers have also left Apple for Meta. The AFM group is responsible for developing the core technology behind Apple's AI platform. With Pang gone, the AFM team's leadership structure is uncertain. Floris Weers, another member of the AFM team, recently left for a startup. More engineers from the AFM team are said to be actively searching for jobs elsewhere.
The exits of these researchers have shaken the AFM team and caused uncertainty within Apple's AI strategy. Apple has lost another top AI researcher, Bowen Zhang, to Meta. Zhang was a key member of Apple's foundation models group (AFM).
The departures create a "crisis of confidence" around Apple's AI future among industry recruiters and insiders. Losing a significant portion of the elite team disrupts ongoing AI research and development initiatives, especially those linked to core technologies behind Apple’s AI platform and products. Experts who left were contributors to Apple’s recent AI research papers, indicating the loss isn't just of personnel but also intellectual capital.
Top AI researchers are leaving Apple for Meta primarily because Meta is offering significantly higher compensation packages. For example, Ruoming Pang reportedly received a compensation package exceeding $200 million at Meta, far outstripping the pay of most Apple employees except executives. Other key researchers like Bowen Zhang, Mark Lee, and Tom Gunter have also followed him to Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, attracted by these lucrative offers.
Apple has responded by marginally increasing pay for its AI staff but apparently not enough to retain top talent amid aggressive recruitment by Meta and others like OpenAI and Cohere. The financial gap and Meta’s aggressive hiring strategy suggest Apple faces an uphill battle to keep and attract elite AI researchers, which may slow down or weaken its advancement in AI technologies relative to competitors.
In an attempt to counter this, Apple is exploring the use of third-party AI models like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude for a new version of Siri. At the same time, Apple is also working on a competing version based on new AFM models. However, the future of Apple's in-house AI team remains uncertain.
This talent drain risks hindering Apple's competitiveness in a field increasingly viewed as strategically critical across the tech industry. Elon Musk's Starlink faces a user limit in India, with only 20 lakh connections allowed. The impact of this exodus on Apple's AI future and its overall competitiveness in the tech industry remains to be seen.
[1] TechCrunch [2] The Information [3] Wired [4] Bloomberg
Artificial-intelligence research at Apple appears to be undergoing a significant shift, with top researchers like Ruoming Pang, Bowen Zhang, and others moving to Meta. [2] The exodus of these experts has caused uncertainty within Apple's AI strategy [1], and many question the future of its in-house AI team.
Moreover, the departures from the AFM team, responsible for core technology development behind Apple's AI platform, could disrupt ongoing research and development initiatives. [3] This talent drain is not just a matter of personnel but also the loss of valuable intellectual capital.
