tl;dr
Ruoming Pang, Apple's head of foundation models, has left to join Meta's Superintelligence Labs, marking a setback for Apple's AI efforts. Pang led about 100 engineers working on Apple's core language models. His departure follows that of his deputy, Tom Gunter. Meta recently acquired a 49% stake in...
Apple’s head of foundation models, Ruoming Pang, has reportedly left the company to join Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, contributing to Meta's rapidly expanding AI talent pool. Pang managed a team of about 100 engineers working on Apple's core language models powering features such as on-device summarization, Genmoji, and Priority Notifications. His departure follows that of his top deputy, Tom Gunter, signaling a significant setback for Apple’s AI ambitions.
Meta recently acquired a 49% stake in Scale AI for $14.3 billion, bringing its CEO to head the Superintelligence Lab, marking Meta’s second-largest acquisition. This move has intensified Meta's efforts to secure top AI talent, reportedly offering large signing bonuses to recruit key researchers from competitors, including OpenAI and Google. While Meta consolidates AI expertise at a rapid pace, Apple seems to be losing ground amid internal concerns about its strategic direction and dependence on partnerships rather than in-house innovation.
Industry experts like Jeth Ang note that Meta’s hiring tactics resemble a reverse acqui-hire strategy, extracting vital intellectual capital from competitors to lead in the AI race. However, this approach prompts questions about long-term sustainability and whether such aggressive talent acquisition fosters the stable, innovative culture required for eventual advancements like artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Apple faces a growing perception issue in generative AI, with some viewing the company as falling behind competitors. Even well-known features like Siri are seen as underperforming, feeding skepticism about Apple’s AI trajectory. While losing a single executive does not incapacitate a tech giant, it can erode confidence, reinforcing a narrative that Apple struggles to adapt swiftly to emerging AI challenges.