The top artificial intelligence researcher for robotics at Apple has left the company to join Meta Platforms' rival initiative, contributing to a trend of talent departures from Apple.
Jian Zhang has started working at the Meta Robotics Studio, and three additional AI researchers are departing from Apple's large language models team, further adding to the turbulence within that division, according to reports.
This recent wave of exits — occurring within the past week — includes John Peebles, Nan Du, and Zhao Meng, according to these sources, who requested to remain anonymous due to the lack of public announcements regarding these changes.
The Apple Foundation Models team, which plays a crucial role in the development of the Apple Intelligence platform launched last year in an effort to advance in AI, has seen its workforce shrink by around 10 members, including its leader, in recent weeks.
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Apple is currently evaluating whether to depend more on external technology rather than solely on internally developed models.
Peebles and Du are heading to OpenAI, while Zhao is moving to Anthropic. Several of their coworkers previously transitioned to Meta, which has attracted talent by offering significant salary increases. Ruoming Pang, who previously led Apple’s models team, accepted a multiyear deal worth $200 million.
Zhang, the robotics expert, managed a small group of academics concentrated on automation technology and the integration of AI within such products. That team has already encountered some departures, including Zhang's colleague Mario Srouji, who left in April to oversee AI products at Archer Aviation.
The robotics research team falls under Apple's artificial intelligence and machine learning division and is distinct from the firm’s robotics product development organization, which was transitioned to Apple's hardware engineering department earlier this year.
Robotics represents a vital component of Apple’s future projects, as the company intends to roll out various devices, including a tabletop machine featuring a moving screen and a robotic arm designed for use in retail environments and manufacturing.
On the other hand, Meta is progressing with its product development. In addition to smart glasses and AI capabilities, the company is heavily investing in an operating system along with essential hardware components for humanoid robots.
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Zhang will be working on product development at the Robotics Studio, which belongs to Meta’s Reality Labs division.