A recent report by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman indicates that Apple's talent exodus in the field of artificial intelligence continues to intensify. Meta officially confirmed on Tuesday that Jian Zhang, head of Apple's robotics research, has joined its Meta Robotics Studio team. Meanwhile, three more core researchers from Apple's in-house large language model team have departed: John Peebles, Nan Du, and Zhao Meng. Zhao will join Anthropic, while the other two plan to join OpenAI.
This shift reflects ongoing turmoil within Apple's foundational modeling team. According to sources familiar with the matter, the team has recently lost approximately 10 members, including its leader. The team, which supports the development of Apple's Apple Intelligence platform, had previously left Apple for a lucrative $200 million contract offered by Meta. Gurman noted that Apple is internally debating whether to reduce investment in in-house technology. Some employees believe that Apple Intelligence has received a poor market response, and rumors of a potential shift to third-party technology have further shaken team morale.
In terms of business impact, Zhang Jian's departure has a direct impact on Apple's robotics research and development plans. His team, originally focused on automation technology and AI product applications, lost Mario Srouji to Archer Aviation in April of this year. Although Apple has integrated some of its robotics R&D teams into its hardware engineering department, Bloomberg reports that robotics remains a key focus of its future product plans, including desktop devices with removable screens and industrial robotic arms. Meta is accelerating its development efforts through its Reality Labs division, with Zhang Jian overseeing product development in his new role.
Industry observers believe this talent crunch could reshape the AI competition landscape among tech giants. As more Apple AI employees look to leave, its in-house technology pipeline may face greater challenges, while competitors like Meta continue to strengthen their R&D capabilities through high-paying poaching. The outcome of this talent war will directly impact the innovation speed and market performance of the next generation of AI products.
