- Ruoming Pang, head of Apple’s foundation models team, is leaving for Meta after joining from Alphabet in 2021.
- Meta offered a multi-million-dollar package and has aggressively recruited top AI talent, restructuring its AI division around “superintelligence.”
- Apple will hand over its AI models group to Zhifeng Chen amid internal debate over third-party models and has shifted overall AI strategy under Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell.
Apple’s Artificial Intelligence efforts took a blow this week when Ruoming Pang, the engineer who led the company’s foundation models team, announced his move to Meta Platforms. Pang joined Apple in 2021 from Alphabet to head the roughly 100-person team building large language models. His departure comes as Apple’s AI initiatives face internal uncertainty and questions about strategy.
• Apple’s AI models leader is leaving for Meta
• Pang joined Apple from Alphabet in 2021
• Team size was around 100 engineers
Meta’s recruitment drive has become legendary in Silicon Valley. To land Pang, Meta reportedly offered a compensation package worth tens of millions annually. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has personally courted top AI talent, hosting candidates at his homes and dangling offers that outstrip rival bids. Recent hires include former executives and researchers from Scale AI, OpenAI and Anthropic.
• Meta offered tens of millions per year to Pang
• Zuckerberg hosted recruits at private residences
• Key hires from Scale AI, OpenAI and Anthropic
The social media giant restructured its AI division in late June to focus on “superintelligence,” aiming for systems that rival human performance. Meta plans to invest tens of billions in AI this year, funding data centers, custom chips and global research. This level of spending underscores Meta’s determination to outpace competitors such as Google and OpenAI.
• Meta refocused teams on superintelligence in June
• Annual AI budget reaches tens of billions
• Investments span hardware and research
At Apple, Pang’s team powers features branded as Apple Intelligence, including email summaries, Genmoji and enhanced notifications. In June, Apple opened these models to third-party developers for the first time. Meanwhile, new leadership has eyed outsourcing parts of Siri’s intelligence to external providers, dampening morale within the foundation models group.
• Apple Intelligence features rely on Pang’s models
• Models were opened to outside developers in June
• Internal debate over using third-party AI for Siri
Pang’s exit highlights the fierce competition for AI talent. Reports suggest other engineers on Apple’s foundation team are considering departures. Apple plans to hand over that group to Zhifeng Chen, restructuring to introduce multiple management layers. Overall AI oversight now rests with Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell, while John Giannandrea leads research. This shake-up marks the most significant change in Apple’s AI ranks since the program’s inception.
• Further foundation models engineers may leave
• Team reorganized under Zhifeng Chen with new managers
• Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell now run Apple’s AI strategy
