Apple falls far from the tree

Apple’s increasingly desperate efforts to get back into the AI race took another hit with news from Bloomberg that the head of AI search for a revamped Siri is leaving for Meta, which has pursued the strategy of loading money into a cannon and shooting it wherever there’s a glimmer of AI talent not nailed down.

According to the report, Ke Yang took charge of Apple’s “Answers, Knowledge and Information” team just weeks ago.

The team is reportedly targeting a March 2026 launch for the new version of Siri, which will feature the ability to search the web for answers to user queries. Sure, that’ll do it.

Yang’s exit is the latest in a series of executive departures that have plagued Apple, and continues Meta’s hiring spree across the tech industry to lure top AI talent to the company with reported eye-popping nine-figure pay packages.

Bloomberg reports that roughly a dozen members of the Apple Foundation Models team have also departed recently, many joining Meta’s “superintelligence” team.

Apple has been behind the eight ball for much of the AI trend, despite being relatively early to the voice assistant game with Siri. That being said, Siri never really managed to become the kind of killer product that Apple executives were clearly hoping for, and consistently fell short of expectations when it came to its ability to actually execute the tasks intended.

The Takeaway

Ultimately, this departure is just the latest in a long line of missed opportunities for Cupertino, which finds itself without answers, lacking knowledge, and bereft of information to win this.

But hey, at least they’ve got television figured out, right? Right?