Apple Inc. is accelerating its research and development process in artificial intelligence (AI) to regain its leading position in the industry. To achieve this goal, Apple has made significant personnel changes, appointing veteran executive vice president Kim Vorrath to the AI and Machine Learning department as the chief deputy to AI head John Giannandrea. Vorrath is known for her exceptional problem-solving skills and her experience in driving major project successes, and this reassignment is seen as a key move to strengthen Apple's AI team and reshape its competitiveness in AI.
Vorrath has worked at Apple for 36 years and has led several key projects, including the launch of the original iPhone software and the development of the Vision Pro headset. She is renowned for her ability to establish efficient processes and quickly resolve issues. According to sources, Vorrath's appointment aims to bring more discipline and organization to Apple's AI team, addressing its current lag behind OpenAI, Meta, and Google in the AI field.
Currently, Apple's "Apple Intelligence" platform is considered to be developing slowly and unevenly, while Siri, a groundbreaking product from 2011, has become a symbol of Apple's shortcomings in AI. To change this situation, Apple plans to overhaul Siri's underlying architecture and improve its internal AI models this year. Additionally, Apple is developing a more advanced version of Siri, which aims to offer a conversational interface closer to AI products like ChatGPT. The upcoming iOS 18.4, expected to launch in April, will feature the next generation of Siri, which will better respond to user requests and control device applications. However, the more advanced version of Siri is expected to be previewed as early as this year, with a full launch potentially not happening until 2026.
Vorrath's reassignment also indicates that Apple's emphasis on AI has surpassed that of Vision Pro. A long-time Apple executive stated that Vorrath excels at organizing engineering teams and optimizing workflows by establishing new processes, which is exactly what Giannandrea's AI team needs. Furthermore, the former head of project management for the AI department, Kelsey Peterson, along with two AI executives, Cindy Lin and Marc Schonbrun, will also join Vorrath's management team.
Analysts believe that Apple is intensifying its efforts to catch up with leaders in the AI field, and Vorrath's addition is seen as promising, with expectations that she will integrate Apple's product development culture into the AI sector and accelerate breakthroughs in AI. Although some current and former executives still have concerns about Apple's AI progress, Vorrath's outstanding management skills demonstrated in the Vision Pro project add confidence to her new role in AI.
