After OpenAI, Meta poaches Apple’s top AI executive

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Apple is dealing with some internal changes in its AI team after one of its top AI executives, Ruoming Pang, left the company to join Meta. 

Meta offered Pang a very high-paying job, reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars a year, according to Bloomberg.

Pang had been leading Apple’s “foundation models” team, this group works on the core technology that powers features like Apple Intelligence and Siri.

This isn’t the first time Meta has hired away top talent from Apple or other companies in the AI field. 

Recently, it also hired high-profile executives from OpenAI. 

Meta is struggling to make a big impact in the AI space and is now spending heavily to recruit top engineers and researchers to try to catch up.

After Pang’s departure, Apple appointed Zhifeng Chen to lead the foundation models team. Several other managers will report to Chen, including Chong Wang and a few other experienced team members.

Some news reports have suggested that Apple is facing serious problems in its AI division, including low morale and the risk of more employees leaving. 

There are even rumors, though unconfirmed, that Apple could give up on using its own AI models in Siri and instead rely entirely on outside companies like OpenAI or Anthropic. 

However, much of this talk comes from anonymous sources and may be exaggerated.

Apple has always taken a more cautious and private approach to AI compared to companies like Meta or Google. 

While other companies rush to release new AI tools, Apple is focusing on privacy and integrating AI slowly into its ecosystem. 

The company believes its long-term strength comes from its tight-knit hardware and software system, not from chasing every tech trend.

So while losing an important team member like Pang is a setback, it doesn’t mean Apple is falling apart. Big companies often see staff come and go, especially in fast-moving areas like AI. 

For now, Apple is continuing its own path in the AI race, slower and quieter, but still very much in the game.

What do you think about Meta poaching top AI talent? Do you think it can make good use of it? Tell us below in the comments, or via our Twitter or Facebook.