Apple has reportedly lost at least four AI researchers recently to its big tech rivals. These departures include Yinfei Yang, Haoxuan You, Bailin Wang and Zirui Wang, Bloomberg News reported Friday (Jan. 30). The report, citing sources familiar with the matter, said Yang left to found a new company, You and Bailin Wang joined Meta, and Zirui Wang took a job with Google’s DeepMind. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman characterizes the departures as an example of ongoing turbulence within Apple’s AI unit. The company has scrambled to stay on pace with its AI peers, and its decision to hand off some technology to Google hasn’t sat well with staff, the report added. In addition to the four departures, Bloomberg said Apple executive Stuart Bowers has also left for DeepMind. He had been a senior leader in the company’s abandoned self-driving vehicle project before moving over to revamping Apple’s Siri voice assistant. The news follows a series of reports last year about executive departures at Apple. The company said in December that Lisa Jackson, vice president for environment, policy and social initiatives, was due to retire in late January of this year, while Kate Adams, general counsel, will retire in late 2026. Also in December, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that dozens of employees had left Apple for OpenAI and Meta in recent months. Those workers included engineers and designers with expertise in areas such as audio, watch design and robotics. Apple last week reported earnings for what CEO Tim Cook called…
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