Apple’s artificial intelligence division is facing a significant talent drain as Meta continues to poach key researchers from the company’s foundation models team, raising concerns about the tech giant’s competitiveness in the AI landscape.
The exodus began with Meta hiring Apple’s head of foundation models, followed by two important colleagues who joined their former boss. Most recently, Bowen Zhang, a key multimodal AI researcher at Apple, left the company on Friday to join Meta’s newly formed ‘Superintelligence’ team, according to a Bloomberg report. Zhang was part of Apple’s foundation models group (AFM), which built the core technology behind the company’s AI platform and represents a critical component of Apple’s artificial intelligence strategy.
These departures come amid reports that Apple has been “marginally increasing the pay of its AFM staffers,” though the new compensation levels still “pale in comparison with those of rivals.” The salary disparity appears to be a contributing factor to the talent drain, as competitors like Meta offer more attractive compensation packages for top AI researchers.
Simultaneously, Apple is reportedly considering a strategic pivot in its AI approach. The company has started exploring the possibility of using third-party large language models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic PBC’s Claude, to power its forthcoming Siri upgrades and potentially other Apple Intelligence features. This represents a significant shift from Apple’s traditional approach of developing proprietary technologies in-house.
Notably, Apple is maintaining a dual-track approach, simultaneously developing a competing version of Siri based on new AFM models. However, the exploration of outside options has reportedly triggered unease within the AFM team, potentially exacerbating the retention challenges as researchers question their long-term role and importance within the company.
