Apple Inc. (AAPL) just announced its biggest AI leadership overhaul since launching Apple Intelligence last year, and it's the kind of move that suggests the company knows it needs to pick up the pace.

According to an Apple press release, John Giannandrea — who's been running Machine Learning and AI Strategy since jumping ship from Google in 2018 — is stepping back into an advisory role before hanging it up entirely in spring 2026. During his time at Apple, Giannandrea essentially built the company's modern AI operation from scratch, overseeing everything from Apple Foundation Models to search systems, machine-learning research, and the core infrastructure that powers it all.

Taking the reins is Amar Subramanya, an AI researcher who most recently served as corporate VP of AI at Microsoft and spent 16 years before that at Google, where he led engineering for the Gemini Assistant. Subramanya will report to software chief Craig Federighi and focus on advancing foundation models, machine-learning research, and AI safety and evaluation. The rest of Giannandrea's sprawling organization will be divvied up between Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan and Services head Eddy Cue.

The timing here is telling. Apple Intelligence was supposed to be the company's answer to Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI, but the reception has been lukewarm at best. The revamped Siri — arguably the feature everyone was waiting for — hit significant delays, fueling concerns that Apple is falling behind competitors who are pouring billions into frontier models, data centers, and cloud-based AI infrastructure.

And the competitive landscape isn't sitting still. Earlier this year, Jony Ive — the design genius behind the iPhone — sold his startup to OpenAI for $6.4 billion. Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have already built prototypes for AI-centric hardware that could hit the market within two years. For Apple, which has owned consumer hardware for the better part of two decades, that's the kind of development that concentrates the mind.

Whether Subramanya's arrival signals a genuine strategic shift or just a fresh coat of paint on a struggling effort remains to be seen. But one thing's clear: Apple knows it can't afford to phone it in on AI anymore.