Robby Walker, a key figure in Apple’s AI team, is leaving the company. Walker, who has been involved in Siri and AI projects for many years, is ending his career at Apple in October. This departure adds another round of executive losses in the tech giant’s AI unit.

Apple’s AI team is shrinking

Walker, who also led Siri’s development and most recently served as a senior director on the Answers, Knowledge, and Data team, handed over responsibility for Siri to Craig Federighi earlier this year. His decision to leave the company entirely after handing over this role is noteworthy.

Apple’s long-developed Siri update has reportedly been indefinitely delayed. Industry sources say Walker played a role in this delay and that this may have been a factor in his decision to leave the company.

Walker’s departure has brought the bleeding within Apple’s AI team back into the spotlight. Recently, many high-level executives have left the company, particularly after receiving substantial offers from Meta. One of these names was Ruoming Pang, a senior engineer who worked on the development of models supporting Apple’s Intelligence infrastructure.

Pang is also known to have brought part of his team to Meta. Frank Chu, who recently served as engineering director, also left Apple to join Meta.

So, what are your thoughts on this? Do you think Apple is falling behind in the AI ​​race? Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.