In a major move within the fiercely competitive American artificial intelligence sector, Apple Inc. has scored a significant victory by recruiting a top AI executive from its rivals. The iPhone maker announced on Monday the appointment of Amar Subramanya, a seasoned AI expert with deep roots in Google and a recent stint at Microsoft, as its new Vice President of Artificial Intelligence.
A Whirlwind Career Move in the AI Talent War
Subramanya's appointment is a direct response to Apple's urgent need to catch up with competitors like Google and Microsoft, who have raced ahead in the AI domain. He fills the role left vacant by the retiring John Giannandrea. At 46, Subramanya now inherits oversight of Apple's core AI teams, including foundation models, machine learning research, and AI safety. His hiring underscores the escalating battle for elite technical talent, where top engineers command multi-million dollar salaries and signing bonuses.
His career trajectory reads like a map of the current AI arms race. A Bengaluru University graduate, Subramanya spent 16 years at Google, ultimately rising to become the head of engineering for the powerful Gemini AI assistant. In a surprising move in July 2025, he was part of a major talent exodus to Microsoft, joining as Corporate Vice President of AI. However, his time at Microsoft's Redmond headquarters lasted less than six months before Apple CEO Tim Cook successfully lured him to Cupertino.
Impeccable Credentials Tailored for Apple's Challenges
Subramanya's academic and professional background aligns perfectly with Apple's specific needs. After earning a BE from Bangalore University in 2001, he completed his PhD at the University of Washington in 2009. His dissertation focused on semi-supervised learning and graphical models—techniques for training AI with limited labeled data. This expertise is a potential boon for Apple, which prioritizes user privacy and often avoids vast troves of personal data.
His research has practical applications in speech recognition and natural language processing (NLP), areas critical for revamping Apple's intelligent assistant, Siri. He is also the co-author of the influential book Graph-Based Semi-Supervised Learning. At Google, he led teams integrating multimodal AI (text, image, video) into products like Search, YouTube, and Android.
The High-Stakes Mission: Fixing Apple's AI Ambitions
Subramanya steps into a high-pressure role. Apple's AI efforts, branded as Apple Intelligence, have faced significant setbacks since their October 2024 unveiling. The platform has been plagued by errors, such as AI-generated notification summaries that fabricated news headlines. A promised major overhaul of Siri was delayed to spring 2026 after internal tests failed to meet expectations.
His predecessor, Giannandrea, also a Google import, was reportedly strong on research but struggled with product delivery. Subramanya will now report to software chief Craig Federighi. His mission is twofold: accelerate the development of Apple's in-house AI model, rumored to have 1 trillion parameters, and effectively leverage a planned $1 billion licensing deal with Google's Gemini to power Siri's revival—an ironic twist in the long-standing rivalry between the two tech giants.
This hiring frenzy, involving top Indian and Indian-American talent like Microsoft's Satya Nadella and Google's Sundar Pichai, highlights the US AI ecosystem's reliance on global minds. As companies like OpenAI, Meta, and Anthropic offer massive incentives, the migration of experts like Subramanya is less about prestige and more about securing the intellectual capital required to build the next generation of intelligent machines.
