Apple's AI-related talent bleed continues unabated, judging from the most recent spate of hard-hitting departures.
Mark Gurman: Apple has lost a key Siri exec and 4 AI researchers in recent weeks
In a new report out today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has disclosed that Apple has lost Stuart Bowers to Google's DeepMind. Bowers was one of the most senior Apple executives working on Siri, and reported directly to Siri head Mike Rockwell.
Additionally, Apple has lost four AI researchers: Yinfei Yang, Haoxuan You, Bailin Wang, and Zirui Wang.
This comes as Apple lost four key executives back in December 2025 as well.
It started with Apple's AI czar, John Giannandrea, who was kicked to the proverbial curb in late 2025, and summarily replaced with Microsoft's Amar Subramanya.
Then, it was the turn of Apple's head of UI design, Alan Dye, who was formally poached by Meta around the same time.
Of course, the Cupertino giant's core iPhone design team is also bleeding talent to Jony Ive's io, which was recently acquired by OpenAI in its quest for an "iPhone Killer" device.
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, OpenAI has hired around 40 Apple engineers in the last month or so alone! Some of these prominent hires from Apple include Matt Theobald, a manufacturing design expert, and Cyrus Daniel Irani, the lead on human interface design.
Moreover, Abidur Chowdhury, the designer of the iPhone Air and a rising star within the company, recently left his cushy job with the tech giant to pursue a stint at an unnamed AI startup.
Coming back, Bowers' departure is particularly hard-hitting given the fact that he would presumably work on Google's Gemini AI models, the same ones whose bespoke variant is expected to power a revamped Siri launching in the next few months.
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