Apple loses another AI executive to Meta

Qi Yang, the Apple executive who is leading the iPhone maker’s efforts to build AI-driven web search, is turning to Meta, according to TikTok. Bloomberg report.

It marks Yang’s departure Latest in a series of exits from Apple’s AI unit, putting the company at risk in the run-up to a long-awaited Siri revamp scheduled for March. Rouming Pang, Apple’s former head of AI modeling, has left for Meta Earlier this year. Nearly a dozen members of Apple’s AIML (artificial intelligence and machine learning) team have also left the company. Many members joined New superintelligence labs in Meta.

A few weeks ago, Yang began overseeing the Answers, Knowledge, and Information (AKI) team, which is tasked with improving Siri’s functionality by allowing it to pull information from the web so that Apple can better compete with competitors in the AI ​​search market, such as OpenAI, Perplexity, and Google. The new Siri also promises the ability to leverage personal data for more complex tasks.

Bloomberg reports that Apple’s remaining team members expect more AI team members to jump in in the coming months.

TechCrunch has reached out to Apple and Meta for comment.