John Giannandrea, Apple’s former AI head, wrapped his final days at Apple earlier this month after his pending departure was first reported in December. And now, it seems Giannandrea already has his next role lined up.
Apple’s former AI head is joining UK startup CuspAI to help with US expansion, per report
Alex Konrad writes at Upstarts Media:
Apple’s longtime former AI chief John Giannandrea is joining a science AI startup, CuspAI, to help build out its U.S. operations, Upstarts has learned.
The former boss for efforts including Apple Intelligence, robotics and Siri plans to work part-time with CuspAI, three sources say, leading the Cambridge, U.K.-based materials lab’s efforts to open a Bay Area office with heavyweight AI talent.
The advisor role doesn’t yet have a formal title attached to it, but represents Giannandrea’s first move back into the ecosystem since his news-making retirement from Apple two weeks ago.
Per the report, Giannandrea will assist with CuspAI’s hiring as it seeks to assemble its US-based team. But he isn’t expected to work exclusively for CuspAI.
Instead, Apple’s former AI head reportedly plans to split his time consulting for several different AI startups.
It’s unclear whether Giannandrea is pursuing consulting as a temporary work plan, just until he lines up the right full-time role, or if he intends to stay in the arena for a while.
Before joining Apple, Giannandrea served as Google’s head of search and AI, making him an especially big “get” for Apple.
However, his tenure is now seen by many as disastrous for Apple. Under Giannandrea’s leadership, the company fell behind in AI and eventually was forced to rely on Google to power its new Siri and other forthcoming Apple Intelligence features.
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