Meta poaches Apple AI search lead amid talent tussle: Report

Meta has recruited Ke Yang, a recently appointed Apple engineering leader charged with building a ChatGPT‑style search experience for Siri, in a fresh escalation of Silicon Valley’s AI hiring battle, according to reports.

Yang was overseeing Apple’s new Answers, Knowledge and Information (AKI) team, which is central to a planned overhaul of Siri.

Yang wasat Apple since 2019 and was tasked with developing AI‑powered web search that plugs directly into Siri via the AKI group.

The move has followed a string of defections from Apple to Meta in 2025, including former Apple foundation‑models lead Ruoming Pang and other senior AI personnel, as both companies have raced to ship more capable on‑device and cloud AI features.

Inside Meta’s AI reorganisation

Earlier this year, Meta consolidated its AI work under Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), a group created to push toward more capable general‑purpose AI systems.

Alexandr Wang, the former Scale AI chief, was appointed Meta’s chief AI officer to help lead the effort alongside product leaders charged with integrating models across Meta’s apps.

After a months‑long hiring blitz, Meta paused new hiring for parts of its AI division in August 2025, describing the step as routine organisational planning following a restructuring—while continuing to make exceptions for critical roles.

A broader AI talent tug‑of‑war

Meta also recently attracted Andrew Tulloch, co‑founder of Thinking Machines Lab, adding another experienced researcher to its ranks as it scales model development and infrastructure teams.

For Apple, which is led by CEO Tim Cook and whose AI strategy is overseen by senior executive John Giannandrea, Yang’s departure has landed as the latest high‑profile change as the company has sought to accelerate generative features across its ecosystem.