Apple appoints Amar Subramanya as vice president of AI

Apple has appointed AI researcher Amar Subramanya as vice president of AI, reporting to Craig Federighi. John Giannandrea will step down and retire in 2026. Subramanya, formerly at Microsoft and Google, will lead Apple’s Foundation Models, ML research, and AI safety efforts.

Cupertino: Apple has announced to appoint renowned AI researcher Amar Subramanya as vice president of AI, reporting to Craig Federighi.

The company said that John Giannandrea, Apple’s senior vice president for Machine Learning and AI Strategy, is stepping down from his position and will serve as an advisor to the company before retiring in the spring of 2026.

---

“Subramanya will be leading critical areas, including Apple Foundation Models, ML research, and AI Safety and Evaluation. The balance of Giannandrea’s organisation will shift to Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue to align closer with similar organisations,” Apple announced.

Subramanya brings a wealth of experience to Apple, having most recently served as corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft, and previously spent 16 years at Google, where he was head of engineering for Google’s Gemini Assistant prior to his departure.

His deep expertise in both AI and ML research and in integrating that research into products and features will be important to Apple’s ongoing innovation and future Apple Intelligence features, said the tech giant.

“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,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.

AI has long been central to Apple’s strategy, and “we are pleased to welcome Amar to Craig’s leadership team and to bring his extraordinary AI expertise to Apple,” said Cook.

In addition to growing 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 personalised Siri to users next year,” Cook further stated.

According to the iPhone maker, since joining Apple in 2018, Giannandrea has played a key role in the company’s AI and ML strategy, building a world-class team and leading them to develop and deploy critical AI technologies.

This team is currently responsible for Apple Foundation Models, Search and Knowledge, ML Research, and AI Infrastructure.

With Giannandrea’s contributions as a foundation, Federighi’s expanded oversight and Subramanya’s deep expertise guiding the next generation of AI technologies, Apple is poised to accelerate its work in delivering intelligent, trusted, and profoundly personal experiences.