Apple has reportedly lost yet another AI talent to Meta. The latest departure marks the fifth high-profile exit from Apple’s AI division to Meta, highlighting the growing challenge Apple faces in keeping its AI workforce intact.
According to Bloomberg, AI researcher Yun Zhu is the latest to resign from Apple’s models team to join Meta’s Superintelligence Labs. Zhu will work on the existing foundation models team within the Superintelligence Labs group.
Apple had already lost Ruoming Pang, the former head of the Apple foundation models group, along with engineers Mark Lee, Tom Gunter and Bowen Zhang, all of whom joined Meta. Another AFM team member, Floris Weers, also left Apple recently, although he did not join Meta and instead moved to a startup.
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Ruoming Pang was reportedly offered around a $200 million compensation package to make the switch, a figure that reflects just how competitive the AI talent market has become.
The timing is particularly tough for Apple. The company has been criticised for being slow in the AI race compared to rivals like Meta, Google and OpenAI. It is reportedly considering integrating third-party AI models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude into a future version of Siri, while also working on its own in-house models.
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“Between low morale and the sky-high compensation offers from Meta, I’m told there will likely be more departures in the near term,” the report said. With so many team members leaving, Apple’s ability to deliver its planned AI advancements could face delays.
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