Meta Poaches Apple's Siri Strategist, Ke Yang, as Talent War Explodes

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Meta strengthens its AI strategy with the addition of a Siri strategist. How will this ongoing battle for AI talent reshape the tech industry?

The artificial intelligence arms race has just claimed a major casualty. In a move that signals a significant escalation in the war for top AI talent, Meta Platforms Inc. has successfully poached Ke Yang, a key strategist behind Apple’s flagship voice assistant, Siri.

Ke Yang, a highly respected computer scientist and Carnegie Mellon graduate, previously led Apple’s critical AI models team. Until recently, he was at the center of the team called Answers, Knowledge and Information (AKI), a group central to the massive, long-awaited overhaul of Siri.

His mission at Apple was to transform the assistant into an intelligent, ChatGPT-like rival, closing the gap with competitors like Google’s Gemini and OpenAI.

Yang, earlier reported to the senior vice president of AI and machine learning at Apple, John Giannandrea, and is now heading to Meta. However, his role has not yet been officially disclosed by him or the company.

Who Else Has Joined Zuckerberg's Ranks?

Yang is just the most recent name on the growing list of Apple’s AI specialists choosing to trade the prestige of the fruit company for the deep pockets of Meta.

The exodus is centered around Apple’s Foundation Models team, which is responsible for building the core large language models. The most notable defector is Ruoming Pang, the team's founder and lead scientist. Pang now spearheads efforts at Meta’s new Superintelligence Labs, a division aimed at building the most advanced AI in the world.

Other key techies who have jumped ship include Frank Chu, a former AI leader at Apple who joined Meta in August, and Chong Wang, a senior researcher who left the company earlier this month.

This flurry of exits underscores a period of internal turbulence at Apple. While the company is racing to integrate generative AI and finally deliver a 'next-generation' Siri, the continuous brain drain poses a serious threat.

As Meta, Google, and OpenAI accelerate their pace, Apple faces the monumental challenge of retaining its top talent while trying to catch up in the most competitive technological race of the decade. The AI talent war is intensifying, and Meta is definitely playing to win.