Apple Faces AI Crisis as Meta Poaches Another Key Researcher

Apple’s troubles in the field of artificial intelligence have taken yet another hit, and this time it’s hard to downplay the significance. Meta has managed to lure away Jian Zhang, Apple’s lead AI researcher specializing in robotics, in what looks like a carefully calculated talent raid. According to Bloomberg, Zhang is now joining Meta’s Robotics Studio, and the move has been confirmed by the social giant itself.

The departure follows a wave of exits from Apple’s AI divisions, including a dozen team members leaving in recent weeks – a worrying sign for a company that once prided itself on keeping its most important talent tightly guarded.

Zhang’s exit is not an isolated case. In fact, it comes at a time when Apple is hemorrhaging AI expertise to competitors. Just last week, three more engineers from the Apple Foundation Models team jumped ship: John Peebles and Nan Du have joined OpenAI, while Zhao Meng has chosen Anthropic. The Foundation Models group was supposed to be the backbone of Apple Intelligence, the company’s high-profile AI initiative launched last year. But the reality is that Apple Intelligence has been sluggish, failing to keep pace with Google’s Gemini, OpenAI’s GPT-4o, or Anthropic’s Claude models. What was meant to be Apple’s entry into the AI arms race has instead exposed internal weaknesses and triggered one of the most embarrassing chapters in Apple’s recent history.

The crisis has forced Apple to consider solutions that once would have seemed unthinkable. Reports suggest that executives have held serious discussions about licensing Google’s Gemini AI to improve Siri – the digital assistant that has been mocked for years for its limited usefulness compared to Google Assistant or Alexa. Such a deal would be a striking admission of how far Apple has fallen behind. At the same time, the company has weighed acquisition talks, eyeing startups like France’s Mistral AI and Perplexity AI, the latter best known for building one of the most popular AI-driven search engines today. These moves underscore the urgency inside Apple to catch up, even if it means relying on outsiders.

Meanwhile, the competition isn’t slowing down. Samsung and Google are baking ever-deeper AI integrations into their flagship devices. The upcoming Pixel 10 and Galaxy S25 will both be powered by the latest versions of Gemini, offering smarter assistants, more natural language interactions, and enhanced productivity tools. By contrast, Apple’s upcoming iPhone 16, marketed with the tagline “built for Apple Intelligence,” is already looking outdated before its release. This mismatch could hit Apple where it hurts most: in consumer perception, as the iPhone risks losing its reputation as the industry’s trendsetter.

All eyes will turn to September 9, when Apple unveils the iPhone 17. The company is unlikely to openly address its AI turmoil during the launch, preferring to focus on polished marketing and carefully chosen feature highlights. Still, observers will be listening for subtle signals – a partnership announcement, a surprise demo, or hints at an acquisition – that could reveal Apple’s real strategy. The truth is that Apple’s credibility in AI now depends not just on keeping up appearances, but on showing tangible progress that rivals cannot dismiss as smoke and mirrors.

For long-time Apple watchers, the situation is bittersweet. The company that once redefined personal technology with the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook now seems to be struggling in the very field shaping the future of computing. If Apple cannot stem the brain drain and deliver real AI breakthroughs, Siri may forever remain the butt of jokes – and Apple risks being remembered as the brand that missed the next great revolution in tech.