Apple AI Chief John Giannandrea Departs Following Apple Intelligence Delays

John Giannandrea, Apple's Chief AI Officer hired from Google, officially departed this week following the disappointing launch of Apple Intelligence and persistent delays in Siri upgrades. Apple had promised significant Siri enhancements at WWDC 2024 and during iPhone 16 marketing campaigns but failed to deliver the functionality through 2025. The departure signals internal struggles with AI execution strategy and comes as Apple reportedly plans a major Siri overhaul for iOS 27, transitioning to custom Google Gemini-based LLMs to create 'Siri 2.0' with enhanced conversational capabilities and world knowledge question answering.