In another significant leadership reshuffle at Apple, a little-known robotics team will soon move from AI chief John Giannandrea’s oversight to John Ternus, Apple’s senior VP of Hardware Engineering, according to a new report Thursday.
This shift follows last month’s decision to remove Siri from Giannandrea’s responsibilities after concerns about execution on product development.
Apple robotics team gets new leadership: From John Giannandrea’s oversight to John Ternus’
The robotics division at Apple, led by Kevin Lynch, has been working on several forward-looking products, including a tabletop device featuring an iPad-like display with a robotic arm that can move the screen around, Bloomberg reported. More ambitious projects in development include a “mobile robot” capable of following users throughout their homes. With this transition, which follows quickly after the shift in Siri oversight, Ternus will now oversee both robotics teams at Apple, the report noted.
Previously, a separate team focused on “robotics and smart home technologies” and led by Brian Lynch and Matt Costello already saw leadership from Ternus. This consolidation puts all robotics development under a single executive, potentially streamlining Apple’s approach to this emerging product category.
Ternus’s expanding influence
John Ternus currently leads hardware engineering for nearly all of Apple’s flagship products. They include iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro. This latest responsibility addition gives Ternus control over key AI operating system and algorithms teams — groups not typically managed by the hardware engineering department.
Industry observers also consider Ternus a leading candidate to eventually succeed Tim Cook as Apple CEO.
Refocusing Giannandrea’s AI efforts
For Giannandrea, this change means his AI/ML group will have “more time to focus on underlying artificial intelligence technology,” according to the report. The move comes as Apple works to catch up with competitors like Google, OpenAI and Perplexity in AI development.
The continued shift of responsibilities away from Giannandrea has raised questions about his future at Apple, though Bloomberg reports he hasn’t indicated plans to leave. However, eight years after Apple consolidated its AI teams under Giannandrea’s leadership, a potential breakup of the AI and ML team looks increasingly likely.
Apple’s robotics future taking shape
With both robotics teams now under Ternus’s leadership, Apple may be accelerating its development of consumer robots. The company’s first robotics product could be the tabletop device with an articulating arm and display. And future plans might include more mobile robots capable of performing simple tasks, placing calls and answering queries — essentially an iPad on wheels with enhanced capabilities.
These organizational changes reflect Apple’s continued push into new product categories while working to strengthen its position in artificial intelligence. Clearly, that’s an area where competitors have made significant advances in recent years.
