苹果公司（Apple Inc.）AI模型主管即将离职，加入Meta Platforms Inc.，这标志着iPhone制造商苹果公司在AI领域的艰难努力中再遭挫折。
知情人士透露，负责公司Apple基础模型团队的杰出工程师兼经理庞若鸣即将离职。这些不愿具名讨论未公开人事变动的知情人士表示，庞若鸣于2021年从Alphabet公司加入苹果，是Meta新成立的超级智能团队的最新重磅招揽对象。
知情人士称，为了招揽庞若鸣，Meta提供了每年价值数千万美元的综合薪酬方案。Meta首席执行官马克·扎克伯格一直在大力招聘，以高薪聘请了多位AI领军人物，包括Scale AI的汪滔、初创公司创始人丹尼尔·格罗斯以及前GitHub首席执行官纳特·弗里德曼。
据其他知情人士透露，Meta在周一还聘用了来自OpenAI的研究员李远志，以及曾在Anthropic PBC从事Claude模型工作的安东·巴赫京。
Meta拒绝置评。苹果和庞若鸣未立即回应置评请求。
在苹果工作期间，庞若鸣管理着一个约100人的团队，负责公司的大语言模型，这些模型是Apple Intelligence及苹果设备上的其他AI功能的基础。6月，苹果宣布将首次向第三方开发者开放这些模型，从而催生一系列新的iPhone和iPad应用。
但在内部，基础模型团队受到了新领导层的审视，该领导层正在探索使用第三方模型（包括来自OpenAI或Anthropic的模型）来驱动新版Siri。近几周，这些内部讨论导致基础模型团队（也称为AFM团队）的部分员工士气低落。
尽管公司考虑在新版Siri中转使用第三方解决方案来驱动AI，但同时也在基于庞若鸣团队开发的模型开发新版Siri。这些模型还为运行在苹果设备上的Apple Intelligence功能提供支持，包括邮件和网页文章摘要、Genmoji和优先通知等功能。
庞若鸣此次重大离职是苹果公司几年前开始研发Apple Intelligence以来，其AI团队经历的最重大的人才流失事件，凸显了在这一新兴领域人才竞争的日益激烈。Meta一直在向全球顶尖工程师提供每年价值数百万美元的薪酬方案，远高于苹果公司向从事类似工作的工程师支付的薪酬。
知情人士称，庞若鸣的离职可能只是AFM团队一连串离职潮的开端，几位工程师已告知同事他们计划在不久的将来跳槽到Meta或其他公司。据彭博社报道，庞若鸣的重要副手汤姆·冈特已于上月从苹果离职。
基础模型团队的直属上司是苹果AI高级副总裁约翰·詹南德雷亚的高级副手达芙妮·梁。今年早些时候，詹南德雷亚在内部被边缘化，他负责的Siri、机器人技术、核心机器学习框架及其他消费产品相关团队被剥离。此前，Apple Intelligence反响不佳，且新Siri功能频繁延期。
随着庞若鸣的离职，AFM团队将由陈智峰接手。团队组织结构将发生变化：在庞若鸣主管时期，大部分工程师直接向他汇报，根据新组织架构，将有多位经理向陈智峰汇报，再由工程师向这些经理汇报。据熟悉团队的人士表示，王崇、王子瑞、邱仲诚和尹国力可能是新架构中的经理人选。
苹果的AI战略现在主要由软件工程主管克雷格·费德里吉和曾帮助创建Apple Vision Pro头显、现负责Siri工程的迈克·罗克韦尔主导。詹南德雷亚本人则负责苹果的AI研究部门。在6月的全球开发者大会（Worldwide Developers Conference）上，苹果自身的AI仅在通话和短信翻译等新功能中略有展示。
其他为数不多的AI功能，包括设备端截屏分析和改进的图像生成，则是由OpenAI和谷歌（Google）等合作伙伴提供。公司还推出了新版Xcode，可以通过接入Claude和ChatGPT来处理代码补全。（财富中文网）
译者：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
Apple Inc.’s top executive in charge of artificial intelligence models is leaving for Meta Platforms Inc., another setback in the iPhone maker’s struggling AI efforts.
Ruoming Pang, a distinguished engineer and manager in charge of the company’s Apple foundation models team, is departing, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Pang, who joined Apple from Alphabet Inc. in 2021, is the latest big hire for Meta’s new superintelligence team, said the people, who declined to be named discussing unannounced personnel moves.
To secure Pang, Meta offered a package worth tens of millions of dollars per year, the people said. Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has been on a hiring spree, bringing on major AI leaders including Scale AI’s Alexandr Wang, startup founder Daniel Gross and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman with high compensation.
Meta on Monday also hired Yuanzhi Li, a researcher from OpenAI, and Anton Bakhtin, who worked on Claude at Anthropic PBC, according to other people with knowledge of the matter.
Meta declined to comment. Apple and Pang didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
At Apple, Pang had been running a roughly 100-person team responsible for the company’s large language models, which underpin Apple Intelligence and other AI features on the company’s devices. In June, Apple announced that those models would be opened up to third-party developers for the first time, allowing for a range of new iPhone and iPad apps.
But internally, the foundation models team has come under scrutiny from new leadership, which is exploring the use of third-party models, including from either OpenAI or Anthropic, to power a new version of Siri. Those internal discussions have soured some of the morale on the foundation models team, also known as AFM, in recent weeks.
While the company has explored a move to a third-party solution to power the AI in the new Siri, it has simultaneously been working on a new version of Siri based on the models developed by Pang’s group. Those models also power Apple Intelligence features that run on Apple devices including email and web article summaries, Genmoji and Priority Notifications.
The major departure, the most significant in Apple’s AI ranks since the company started working on Apple Intelligence a few years ago, underscores the heightened competition for talent in the emerging space. Meta has been making offers to the world’s top engineers worth many millions of dollars per year — significantly more than what the iPhone maker pays its engineers doing similar work.
Pang’s departure could be the start of a string of exits from the AFM group, with several engineers telling colleagues they are planning to leave in the near future to Meta or elsewhere, the people said. Tom Gunter, a top deputy to Pang, left Apple last month, Bloomberg reported at the time.
The foundation models team reports to Daphne Luong, a top deputy to AI senior vice president John Giannandrea. Earlier this year, Giannandrea was sidelined internally and saw Siri, robotics, Core ML frameworks and other consumer product-related teams stripped from his command. That came after a poor response to Apple Intelligence and frequent delays for new Siri features.
With Pang’s departure, the AFM team will now be run by Zhifeng Chen. In a change from a structure under Pang where most of the engineers reported to him directly, there will be a new organizational layout that includes multiple managers reporting to Chen, who will then have engineers reporting to them. People close to the team indicate that Chong Wang, Zirui Wang, Chung-Cheng Chiu and Guoli Yin could be possible managers in the new structure.
Apple’s AI strategy is now run primarily by Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software engineering, and Mike Rockwell, who helped create the Apple Vision Pro headset and now leads engineering for Siri. For his part, Giannandrea is in charge of Apple’s AI research arm. In June, at its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple’s own AI only got a small showing, appearing in new features for translating calls and text messages.
The few other AI features, including analysis of on-device screenshots and improved image generation, came courtesy of partners, including OpenAI and Google. The company also rolled out a new version of Xcode that can handle code completion by tapping into Claude and ChatGPT.