This time also a robot expert: AI departures from Apple to Meta continue

The departures in Apple’s AI department towards Metas “Superintelligence Labs” develop into an infinite story. What started with the boss of Apple Intelligence’s basic models continued and continued. Now an important researcher from Apple’s robotics department from Cupertino should have broken up to Menlo Park, and Apple allegedly wants to build its own home robot in the coming years. As the Financial news agency Bloomberg This week reported, it is Jian Zhang, who is said to have managed a small team of other scientists who worked on automation processes including AI integration into products for Apple.

Researcher to “Luxo Jr.” involved by Apple

What is new is that the ex-Apple robotics employee does not switch to the Superintelligence Labs at Meta-as was the case with the other departures-but into the Meta Robotics Studio, which is relatively unknown there. Meta confirmed the newcomer to Bloomberg. What Zhang will do is still unknown. However, it is exciting to see what he worked on at Apple: he is the most important author in one Research paperin which Apple had presented a kind of real “Luxo Jr.” robot in pixar style.

This is considered a possible inspiration for a new home device in the form of a “tabletop robot”. However, the research department in which Zhang worked is not part of Apple’s robotic product segment that falls into the field of hardware engineering. A former employee of Zhang, Mario Srouji, spicy son of the Apple chip leader Johny Sroouji, had previously left. He now works at the flight taxi company Archer Aviation.

Further departures – also to Openaai and Anthropic

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports three other Apple AI exits. Overall, ten people are said to have lost the important group for basic AI models. It was considered a central authority to create Apple Intelligence, it said. The three fresh ex-Apple employees are John Peebles, Zhao Meng and Nan du, who do not at least switch to meta.

You and Peebles go to Openai, Zhao to Anthropic. In the meantime, a report by WIRED states that the AI ​​experts, which are attracted to Meta with high salaries, states Not all are happy. The first dismissals are said to have already been given.