Apple: Mass Exodus of AI Executives – Talent War Heats Up

Apple is facing a mass departure of executives from its artificial intelligence (AI) division, with many joining companies like Meta and OpenAI. According to the Financial Times, approximately a dozen top executives have left since the beginning of 2025.

Among them, leading members of the Foundational Models team, such as Ruoming Pang, moved to Meta. OpenAI hired engineers Brandon McKinzie and Dian Ang Yap, while Cohere acquired machine learning scientist Liutong Zhou.

Tim Cook has announced new investments in AI and convened an internal meeting to review Apple's strategy. Delays in the development of Siri and 'Apple Intelligence' are causing concern.

Experts estimate that only 1,000-2,000 professionals worldwide possess the necessary expertise to develop foundational AI models, leading to intense competition for talent.

Graig Paglieri of Randstad Digital emphasizes that companies now consider top AI talent as strategic assets.