In a move that’s sent ripples through Silicon Valley, Meta has poached Ke Yang, one of Apple’s top artificial intelligence experts, intensifying the already fierce competition for AI talent among the world’s biggest tech companies. Yang, who has played a pivotal role in shaping Apple’s AI strategy and was recently appointed the head of the Answers, Knowledge and Information (AKI) team at Apple, will now lead AI innovations at Meta’s newly formed Superintelligence Labs, according to multiple reports including Bloomberg and Analytics Insight.
Yang’s departure marks yet another high-profile loss for Apple’s artificial intelligence ranks, as the company races to overhaul its Siri voice assistant and catch up to rivals in the generative AI arms race. For Apple, the timing couldn’t be more critical: Yang was appointed to the AKI team just weeks ago, with the team at the heart of a major Siri revamp planned for March 2026. According to Bloomberg, the AKI team’s mission is nothing short of transforming Siri into a smarter, more competitive virtual assistant by integrating advanced AI models similar to ChatGPT.
Yang, a Carnegie Mellon University graduate, had been with Apple since 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile. Over the past six years, he emerged as a key figure in Apple’s global tech landscape, leading efforts to develop AI-driven web search capabilities aimed at elevating Siri’s sophistication. As the architect behind the AKI team, Yang’s work was central to Apple’s broader push to rejuvenate its AI operations and keep pace with the rapid advances seen at OpenAI, Google, and, of course, Meta.
But Yang’s exit is more than just a single personnel change—it’s part of a wider exodus of Apple’s AI talent. Bloomberg reports that around a dozen members of Apple’s Foundation Models team have left, including its founder and lead scientist, Ruoming Pang, who now spearheads innovation at Meta’s Superintelligence Labs. Other senior Apple AI researchers, such as Chong Wang and Frank Chu, have also joined Meta in recent months. Meanwhile, Sam Wiseman, a New York-based Apple researcher, has departed for Reflection AI. These moves underscore a period of turbulence and transition within Apple’s AI operations, as the company works to revitalize Siri and strengthen its generative AI capabilities.
As a result of Yang’s departure, Apple’s AKI team now reports to Benoit Dupin, a deputy to John Giannandrea, Apple’s senior vice president of AI and machine learning. The partnership between Apple’s AI and Machine Learning group (AIML), led by Giannandrea, and Craig Federighi’s software engineering team is seen by industry analysts as a renewed effort to integrate AI more deeply into Apple’s ecosystem. Yet the challenge remains: can Apple retain the talent it needs to deliver on its long-promised next-generation Siri experience?
The answer may depend on how Apple responds to the escalating AI talent war—one that Meta, under CEO Mark Zuckerberg, has taken to new heights. According to Analytics Insight, Zuckerberg has been aggressively recruiting AI specialists, offering eye-watering pay packages of up to $300 million over four years to lure top-tier research talent. In a Threads post a couple of months ago, Zuckerberg laid out his ambitions plainly: “For our superintelligence effort, I’m focused on building the most elite and talent-dense team in the industry.”
The stakes are enormous. Last month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claimed that Meta was offering his employees $100 million signing bonuses to switch companies, a figure that stunned even seasoned industry observers. While such numbers might sound unbelievable, they reflect the sky-high value placed on AI expertise as tech giants seek to dominate the next era of technology.
Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, now led by Alexandr Wang, have already received a staggering $14.3 billion in investment, according to Analytics Insight. Wang, who also oversees Meta’s other AI product and research teams, is charged with turning this investment into breakthroughs that will keep Meta at the forefront of the AI revolution. Unlike competitors such as Google and Amazon, Meta doesn’t have a cloud computing business to generate immediate revenue from these infrastructure investments, making its aggressive push into AI all the more striking. However, the company has faced its own challenges, including delays in releasing the largest version of its new Llama 4 AI model.
For Apple, the loss of Yang and other top AI minds has raised tough questions about its ability to compete in this new landscape. The company’s efforts to revamp Siri—once a trailblazer in voice assistants—have been hampered by the departure of key personnel. Yet, Apple’s leadership remains committed to integrating advanced artificial intelligence into its products, with the AKI team’s work forming a cornerstone of the upcoming Siri overhaul.
Neither Apple nor Meta has publicly commented on Ke Yang’s new role, but industry analysts agree that his move is a significant moment in the ongoing battle for AI supremacy. It’s a contest that’s as much about people as it is about technology, with companies vying to assemble the brightest minds in the field in hopes of unlocking the next big breakthrough.
As the AI talent war heats up, Apple’s ability to retain and attract top researchers will be closely watched—not just by competitors, but by investors and customers eager to see how the next generation of virtual assistants and AI-powered products will shape the way we live and work. For now, the departure of Ke Yang to Meta stands as a vivid illustration of just how high the stakes have become in Silicon Valley’s race for artificial intelligence dominance.
With billions on the line and reputations at stake, the coming months will reveal whether Apple can weather this storm and deliver the Siri transformation it has promised, or if Meta’s aggressive recruitment will tip the balance in the AI race even further.
