Apple Loses Ke Yang, Senior Executive for AI Search, to Meta

Apple has experienced a significant leadership change in its artificial intelligence division with the departure of Ke Yang, the head of its AI Search project, who has joined Meta. This move marks another setback for Apple, which has been striving to enhance its AI capabilities, particularly in relation to its voice assistant, Siri.

Yang’s exit comes shortly after he was promoted to lead Apple’s newly formed Answers, Knowledge, and Information Group, commonly referred to as AKI. He stepped into this role only a few weeks ago, following the departure of Robby Walker, a long-serving executive who previously led the team. According to reports from Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, Yang’s responsibilities included advancing Siri’s functionality to resemble more advanced AI systems like ChatGPT, with the aim of enabling the assistant to retrieve real-time information from the internet.

Impact of Yang’s Departure

The AKI team is crucial to Apple’s ongoing efforts to revamp Siri, with a major update expected to roll out in March 2026. This overhaul could introduce features that allow Siri to access personal data and tackle more complex requests. Following Yang’s departure, the AKI team will now report to Benoit Dupin, who is one of John Giannandrea‘s deputies overseeing Apple’s machine learning initiatives.

Yang’s exit is part of a larger trend within Apple’s AI division, which has reportedly seen over a dozen senior executives leave in 2023 alone. Many of these departures originated from the company’s Foundation Models team, which is responsible for developing Apple’s foundational generative AI technologies. Notably, Ruoming Pang, the previous head of that team, also moved to Meta earlier this year.

This succession of leadership exits raises questions about Apple’s strategic direction in the increasingly competitive AI landscape. With rivals like Google’s Gemini, OpenAI, and Perplexity making significant advancements, Apple’s ability to innovate and attract top talent will be critical for maintaining its position in the market.

As Apple continues to navigate these challenges, the focus will be on how the AKI team adapts to the leadership change and whether it can deliver the anticipated improvements to Siri in the coming years. The company’s commitment to AI development will be tested as it seeks to keep pace with its competitors and meet the evolving needs of its users.