Senior AI exec leaves Apple, leaving Siri’s future in question

Apple’s AI brain trust just lost another neuron. Robby Walker, one of Cupertino’s top artificial intelligence executives, is leaving the company. 

Walker most recently served as senior director of Apple’s Answers, Information, and Knowledge team. Before that, he oversaw Siri’s development until Craig Federighi took over earlier this year.

The timing wasn’t great: Apple had just told customers its much-hyped “new and improved Siri” was delayed indefinitely. 

Rumor has it, Walker himself may have been one of the culprits behind the holdup. Since then, he’s been leading a hush-hush project code-named “Answers,” Apple’s AI-powered search engine designed to one day go head-to-head with ChatGPT and Perplexity. 

Bloomberg says it’s penciled in for a 2026 launch, which, in Apple years, means somewhere between “next WWDC” and “when the flying car arrives.”

Walker’s departure is scheduled for October, though nobody knows where he’s headed. 

His exit adds to a growing list of senior AI leaders fleeing Apple, many of whom have been scooped up by Meta, which is apparently throwing money around like it just found a cheat code. 

Ruoming Pang was reportedly offered $200 million to jump ship and even brought some engineers along. 

Frank Chu, formerly Apple’s director of engineering, also joined Meta this September. It’s starting to look less like employee turnover and more like a talent draft.

And in other news from the Apple universe: the Daily Mail has finally changed its tune on Apple News. (Via: AppleInsider)

After years of shunning the service in the UK because it feared cannibalizing traffic, the tabloid now wants in, but Apple won’t open the door. 

DMG Media, the Mail’s owner, filed a complaint with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, accusing Apple of arbitrary and “discriminatory” practices. 

Apple allegedly told them that Mail publishes too much content, which could overwhelm the platform. 

Between executive exits and a tabloid turf war, it’s clear Apple’s week in the headlines is less about shiny iPhones and more about the messy politics of AI and news.

Does the exodus of AI talent from Apple to Meta signal serious problems with Apple’s AI strategy, or is this just normal Silicon Valley poaching in a competitive market? Should we be concerned that Apple’s AI projects like the improved Siri and “Answers” search engine keep getting delayed while competitors race ahead? Tell us below in the comments, or reach us via our Twitter or Facebook.