One of Apple's top AI executives is reportedly leaving the company

As Apple lags behind, it's losing top AI-focused employees.
 By 
Alex Perry
 on 
Apple logo at retail store in China
He wasn't on the job very long. Credit: Cheng Xin/Getty Images

Apple is losing one of its top AI minds, according to Bloomberg.

Robby Walker, who had been the senior director of Apple's Answers, Information, and Knowledge team since earlier this year, is reportedly set to leave the tech giant next month. Walker had previously been in charge of Siri prior to moving over to AI development. This is on top of Apple losing other high-level AI employees to Meta back in July, also reported by Bloomberg.

The report doesn't give an explicit reason for why Walker or the other employees have left the company, but it certainly doesn't paint an entirely positive picture of Apple's AI development from the outside looking in. The company's Apple Intelligence suite of AI features has notably lagged behind competitors like Google. One very noteworthy example is that Google's Gemini Live naturalistic chatbot has been up and running for a while, even as Apple's long-awaited AI-powered Siri upgrade has been reportedly delayed into next year.

It remains to be seen whether or not all of this AI business is a bubble just waiting to burst or something that's truly here to stay, but at the pace Apple is moving, one might get the impression that the company is betting on the former.


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Alex Perry
Tech Reporter

Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.

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