Apple Loses AI Search Chief Ke Yang to Meta Amid Executive Exodus

Apple is facing a significant setback in its artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives with the departure of Ke Yang, who recently led the company’s AI Search project. Yang has joined Meta, as reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. His exit comes just weeks after he was appointed to oversee Apple’s newly formed Answers, Knowledge, and Information Group, known internally as AKI. This group is central to plans for a major overhaul of Apple’s virtual assistant, Siri, which is expected to be unveiled in March 2026.

The AKI team is tasked with enhancing Siri’s capabilities to make it more interactive and responsive, similar to AI models like ChatGPT. Key features under development include the ability for Siri to access real-time information from the internet and to manage complex, multi-step requests that leverage personal data. Yang’s leadership was anticipated to drive these innovations, especially following the departure of Robby Walker, who had led the group for several years.

Yang, who previously managed the search-focused aspect of AKI, reported directly to John Giannandrea, Apple’s senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy. With Yang’s departure, the AKI team will now report to Benoit Dupin, one of Giannandrea’s deputies responsible for overseeing Apple’s machine learning infrastructure. The AKI project is vital to Apple’s strategy to compete with rivals such as Google Gemini, OpenAI, and Perplexity.

This loss is part of a broader trend at Apple, where more than a dozen senior executives have left the artificial intelligence division in 2023 alone. Many of these departures originated from Apple’s Foundation Models team, which is critical for developing the company’s core generative AI technologies. Earlier this year, the unit was led by Ruoming Pang, who also transitioned to Meta.

The exodus of talent raises concerns about Apple’s ability to maintain its competitive edge in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. As the company seeks to innovate its offerings, the departure of key leaders like Yang may hinder its progress in delivering enhanced features to its users.