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Apple loses AI chief, general counsel, policy VP and design head
The planned early-2025 retirement of John Giannandrea, Apple’s AI chief, comes at a time when the company is seeing the exit of its top leaders.
Apple said Monday that its head of artificial intelligence is stepping down, with a veteran engineer from Google and Microsoft set to take over the division.
The company also announced Thursday that general counsel Kate Adams and vice president for environment, policy and social initiatives Lisa Jackson are retiring.
In a separate development, Meta has hired Alan Dye, Apple’s longtime head of user interface design.
The planned early-2025 retirement of John Giannandrea, Apple’s senior vice president of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, comes at a time when the company is seeing exit of its top leaders.
Giannandrea will serve as an advisor during his remaining time at the company.
“We are thankful for the role John played in building and advancing our AI work,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in a post announcing the news.
Also Read | Who is Alan Dye, Apple design exec poached by Meta in massive coup?
Why are the latest leaders to exit?
General Counsel Kate Adams and Policy chief Lisa Jackson, who both reported to Cook, are the latest senior leaders to exit.
Adams joined Apple from Honeywell in 2017 and oversaw litigation, global security, and privacy initiatives during a period of intensifying antitrust scrutiny, including major lawsuits in the US over App Store policies. Jackson, who joined in 2013, led Apple’s diversity programs and much of its Washington, DC policy work.
She previously served as administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama.
Alan Dye poached by Meta
Dye’s departure marks another blow to Apple’s design organisation, which Bloomberg reported has been steadily hollowed out since Jony Ive left in 2019.
Dye rose to prominence after Ive’s exit, helping shape the design of Apple’s recent software and devices. He informed Apple of his decision to leave this week, a move top leadership had been expecting.
His exit adds to a growing list of high-level departures. COO Jeff Williams retired last month, AI chief John Giannandrea is leaving, and former hardware head Dan Riccio exited in the fall. Bloomberg reports that more turnover is likely as several top executives, including Tim Cook, approach retirement age.
Dye will not be joining Meta alone. Billy Sorrentino, a senior design director at Apple since 2016, is also joining the company.
