Former Google executive joins Apple as new AI vice president

Apple has appointed Amar Subramanya, a former Google executive, as its new vice president for artificial intelligence (AI), the tech giant announced on Monday.

Subramanya, who most recently served as corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft, previously played a key role in developing Google's AI tool Gemini.

John Giannandrea, Apple's current AI chief who was recruited from Google in 2018, will step down and "serve as an advisor to the company before retiring in the spring of 2026," Apple said.

Apple has faced delays in rolling out a major update to its Siri voice assistant, initially announced in June 2024 as an AI-enhanced version capable of accessing users' personal information and integrating across apps.

The update is now expected by 2026 after internal testing found it was not yet reliable enough, according to software chief Craig Federighi.

The appointment reflects Apple's ongoing effort to keep pace in the AI race triggered by OpenAI's generative-AI chatbot ChatGPT, while rivals such as Google and Amazon push ahead with their own advanced systems. Users can currently integrate ChatGPT into Apple devices.