Apple's AI Strategy Faces Setback as Senior Executive Robby Walker Departs

Apple's AI and search executive Robby Walker to leave, Bloomberg News reports

Sept 12 (Reuters) - Robby Walker, one of Apple's (AAPL.O), opens new tab most senior artificial intelligence executives, is leaving the company, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Walker's exit comes as Apple's cautious approach to AI has fueled concerns it is sitting out what could be the industry's biggest growth wave in decades. The company was slow to roll out its Apple Intelligence suite, including a ChatGPT integration, while a long-awaited AI upgrade to Siri has been delayed until next year. Walker has been the senior director of the iPhone maker's Answers, Information and Knowledge team since April this year. He has been with Apple since 2013, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is planning to leave Apple next month, the report said. Walker was in charge of Siri until earlier this year, before management of the voice assistant was shifted to software chief Craig Federighi. Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Recently, Apple has seen a slew of its AI executives leave to join Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab. The list includes Ruoming Pang, Apple's top executive in charge of AI models, according to a Bloomberg report from July. Meta has also hired two other Apple AI researchers, Mark Lee and Tom Gunter -- who worked closely with Pang -- for its Superintelligence Labs team. Mike Rockwell, vice president in charge of the Vision Products Group, would be in charge of Siri virtual assistant as CEO Tim Cook has lost confidence in AI head John Giannandrea's ability to execute on product development, Bloomberg had reported in March. At its annual product launch event last week, Apple introduced an upgraded line of iPhones, alongside a slimmer iPhone Air, and held prices steady amid U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs that have hurt the company's profit. The event, though, was light on evidence of how Apple -- a laggard in the AI race -- aimes to close the gap with the likes of Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, which showcased the capabilities of its Gemini AI model in its latest flagship phones. Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Alan Barona Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Former Siri boss behind delayed Apple Intelligence features leaving the company - 9to5Mac

After announcing a much more capable version of Siri in June 2024, Apple delayed the Apple Intelligence-powered version of the personal assistant in May 2025. Around that time, there was a now-infamous pep talk given to the Siri team by the then-senior director of the project. Robby Walker wasn't a name most Apple followers would recognize, but the Siri senior director's reported speech to rally the engineers behind the incomplete effort stood out. In the team meeting, Walker reportedly compared the unfinished project to a failed attempt to set a swimming distance record: Walker compared the endeavor to an attempt to swim to Hawaii. "We swam hundreds of miles -- we set a Guinness Book for World Records for swimming distance -- but we still didn't swim to Hawaii," he said. "And we were being jumped on, not for the amazing swimming that we did, but the fact that we didn't get to the destination." More importantly, Walker put the state of Apple's work into context with the wider industry, explaining that some competitors have shipped worse versions of similar features, but Apple's quality bar wasn't yet met. Since then, Walker moved to a different team where he reportedly worked on an AI search project called Answers. Apple currently relies on OpenAI's ChatGPT to provide general world knowledge for Apple Intelligence and Siri. As of today, however, it's being reported by Mark Gurman for Bloomberg that Robby Walker is leaving Apple at the end of October. Gurman adds that the Answers project is still ongoing and on track to ship in 2026. The report adds that Walker's number of deputies was dramatically reduced after shifting from the Siri team to the Answers, Information and Knowledge team. Following the delay, Siri moved from AI chief John Giannandrea to Mike Rockwell, who spearheaded Apple Vision Pro and visionOS. Apple is expected to release the new version of Siri as soon as spring 2026. Bloomberg has reported that Apple is considering using Google's Gemini model to power parts of the new Siri. Separately, Apple's search deal with Google largely went unaffected by the court decision that could have cut off a major revenue stream for Apple. Apple could still use its own in-house model to power the upgraded Siri, but it sounds like Google could become a key player in helping Apple get the new Siri up and running.

Apple's AI and search executive Robby Walker to leave, Bloomberg News reports

(Reuters) -Robby Walker, one of Apple's most senior artificial intelligence executives, is leaving the company, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Walker's exit comes as Apple's cautious approach to AI has fueled concerns it is sitting out what could be the industry's biggest growth wave in decades. The company was slow to roll out its Apple Intelligence suite, including a ChatGPT integration, while a long-awaited AI upgrade to Siri has been delayed until next year. Walker has been the senior director of the iPhone maker's Answers, Information and Knowledge team since April this year. He has been with Apple since 2013, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is planning to leave Apple next month, the report said. Walker was in charge of Siri until earlier this year, before management of the voice assistant was shifted to software chief Craig Federighi. Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Recently, Apple has seen a slew of its AI executives leave to join Meta Platforms. The list includes Ruoming Pang, Apple's top executive in charge of AI models, according to a Bloomberg report from July. Meta has also hired two other Apple AI researchers, Mark Lee and Tom Gunter -- who worked closely with Pang -- for its Superintelligence Labs team. Mike Rockwell, vice president in charge of the Vision Products Group, would be in charge of Siri virtual assistant as CEO Tim Cook has lost confidence in AI head John Giannandrea's ability to execute on product development, Bloomberg had reported in March. At its annual product launch event last week, Apple introduced an upgraded line of iPhones, alongside a slimmer iPhone Air, and held prices steady amid U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs that have hurt the company's profit. The event, though, was light on evidence of how Apple -- a laggard in the AI race -- aimes to close the gap with the likes of Google, which showcased the capabilities of its Gemini AI model in its latest flagship phones. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Alan Barona)