Apple to disband its 121-person AI team; Employees may have to relocate or face termination

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple is disbanding its 121-person artificial intelligence-related operations team in San Diego, potentially laying off several employees.

The team, known as ‘Data Operations Annotation’, is being moved to Austin, where it will be merged with the Texas branch. The team is responsible for working on Siri and its voice service queries.

Initially, this team handled Siri queries, but in 2019 this became optional for customers, leading to the team being replaced by full-time employees. The team’s expertise includes being competent in multiple languages, including Hebrew, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and French.

Bloomberg also reported that the announcement was made by a top deputy to Apple’s AI chief John Giannandrea. An Apple spokesperson said: “The Data Operations Annotation teams in the US will be together on our campus in Austin, where the majority of the team is already based.” He indicated that all affected employees will have the option to remain in their current positions at Apple Austin. However, they must decide if they want to transfer from San Diego by the end of February or face dismissal.

Sources report that the move surprised many Apple employees on the team, and many have expressed disappointment at the prospect of relocating to Austin. However, Apple is offering these employees $7,000 relocation compensation if they choose to relocate to Austin by June. If they fail to transfer, they will be removed from their position at Apple and will receive severance pay based on their tenure with the company, as well as a few additional months of health insurance coverage.

Not only this, this news has come at a time when many companies including Google and Amazon have fired hundreds of employees. On the other hand, Apple is trying its best to avoid layoffs by giving employees options to directly fire them.