June 16, 2025 – During this year’s WWDC25 event, the absence of John Giannandrea, the head of Apple’s artificial intelligence division, stirred up significant buzz within the tech industry.
Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman has shed light on the situation, suggesting that Giannandrea is gradually stepping away from Apple’s core management team and might even be on the verge of “departing from the company.”
It’s worth noting that Giannandrea previously held the position of head of Google’s Search and AI department before joining Apple in 2018. He was initially seen as a promising addition to the company. However, he has struggled to fully integrate into Apple’s internal culture, and his AI – related ideas have reportedly “clashed significantly with those of other top executives.” Eventually, following the sluggish progress of the Apple Intelligence project and the failure to deliver key features on time, he was recently “demoted.”
In stark contrast, during last year’s WWDC24, John Giannandrea made a public appearance and even granted interviews to the media. But at this year’s WWDC25, not only was Giannandrea himself nowhere to be seen, but Apple’s overall stance on AI was also extremely “cautious.” During his speech, Apple’s software chief Craig Federighi only briefly mentioned that “Apple Intelligence still needs more time for refinement.” The entire event was more centered around system – level updates, such as the introduction of the brand – new Liquid Glass visual style in iOS 26.
Gurman opines that John Giannandrea’s influence within Apple has now been significantly diminished, and the company “may no longer have faith in him.”
