Apple’s 121-Person AI Team to be Disbanded; Employees Required to Relocate or Risk Losing Jobs

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple is disbanding its 121-person artificial intelligence operations team in San Diego, leaving many employees vulnerable to layoffs.

The team, known as “Data Operations Annotations,” will be moved to Austin, where it will be merged with the Texas branch. The team is responsible for processing Siri and its voice service queries.

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

Bloomberg also reported that the announcement was made by Apple’s AI chief John Giannandrea. An Apple spokesperson said: “The Data Operations Annotations teams in the US are co-located at our campus in Austin, where most of the team is already located.” He announced that all affected employees would have the opportunity to continue in their current positions at Apple Austin. However, they would have to decide if they want to move out of San Diego by the end of February or face being fired.

Sources report that this move surprised many Apple employees on the team, and many have expressed disappointment at the prospect of moving to Austin. However, Apple is offering those employees a $7,000 relocation allowance if they decide to move to Austin by June. If they don’t move, they’ll be fired from their position at Apple and given severance pay based on their tenure at the company, plus a few extra months of health insurance.

However, this news comes at a time when many companies have laid off hundreds of workers, including Google and Amazon. Apple, on the other hand, is doing its best to avoid layoffs by offering employees options for direct termination.