Apple’s lead AI researcher for robotics has left the iPhone maker and joined Meta, marking a string of departures at the company in the last few weeks. The employee, named Jian Zhang, joined Meta’s Robotics Studio and is now among almost 10 members that have left Apple’s Foundation Models team to join rivals, Bloomberg reported.
Who is Jian Zhang?
As per Zhang’s LinkedIn profile, he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics Engineering from Zhejiang University, along with a PhD in Engineering from Purdue University.
The techie also served as a lecturer at Purdue University before finally joining Apple as the Head of Robotics Research in 2015.
Zhang led a small team of academics at Apple that were focused on automation technology and the role of AI in these products. At Meta, Zhang will be developing products at the company’s Robotics Studio, which is a part of the company’s Reality Labs division.
The robotics research group is reportedly part of Apple’s artificial intelligence and machine learning division and is said to be critical to Apple’s future products.
The iPhone maker is previously reported to be working on a tabletop machine with a moving screen and a robotic arm for use in retail stores.
Who else is leaving Apple?
Apart from Zhang, three more Apple researchers have recently left the company, which includes John Peebles, Nan Du, and Zhao Meng. Notably, Peebles and Du are said to be going to OpenAI, while Zhao is joining Anthropic.
With all four techies being part of the Apple Foundation Models team, which was instrumental in the creation of Apple Intelligence, the company is now reportedly considering whether to rely more on outside technology rather than its homegrown models.
Apart from the current set of employees, Apple has also had a number of employees leave as the company grapples to get its Siri upgrade strategy right while Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg rolled out the red carpet for his Superintelligence division by offering packages up to $200 million.
