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Report: Apple Bleeding Talent to OpenAI
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Give me reliable hardware and software and I'm fine. I don't need Siri to handle/schedule tasks that I can do. It's not as if I'm never near a screen.
The bubble may burst but that doesn't mean AI is going away, there will be survivors and once that bubble bursts it will be harder for other companies to jump in.
Apple is danger of falling behind in a major epic shift in computing. Everyone is interested in seeing what AI can do, consumers, hobbyists, businesses, and even governments - any bubble bursting will not change the allure and promise of what AI can do.
"they'll be back to their old pay when Apple buys OpenAI" That was what Tim warned them as they picked up their last paycheck.
That, or another AI company - it definitely will be a panic buy, and such they'll over pay.
Not really, Apple 🍎 hired the person who was head engineer over Google Gemini AI project and they are collaborating with Google to create a custom model for them. Apple 🍎 still has the money to easily replace talent
TBH I’m still not entirely convinced Apple shouldn’t just be partnering on AI chatbots (which is what people mean when they say AI) they way they are now. They didn’t make a search engine when that market was hot, and didn’t try to compete with Google, Microsoft, and Amazon in cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP).
I like the idea that every company doesn’t need to do everything.
Yes. And Tim will be a legitimate retirement when he leaves next year. Still doesn't mean they are losing a lot of talent. Maybe hire some younger people?
According to Apple, AI is the most important part of their strategy right now, but they cannot keep the talent they need.
I think this is a ringing endorsement of poor leadership at the top. Seems to me the explanation is that there is no leadership that understands the technology and no willingness to listen to those that do.
Apple has almost 50,000 engineers working for them. Losing a few people isn’t “bleeding”. It’s more like a tiny pin prick and less than a drop.
Several engineers left Apple to form Nuvia including Gerard Williams III (their chief processor designer) and people predicted doom & gloom for Apple processors. And what happened in the 5+ years since they left?
Apple is still on top for processors and Qualcomm’s purchase of Nuvia that was supposed to beat Apple have failed with the X Elite processors being nothing more than average (unless compared to Apple M Series from a couple years ago).
This won’t have any effect on Apple except to give the haters something to cheer about in their never-ending hope that Apple falls.
When Apple fired Jobs, they hired the CEO from Pepsi, who in turned almost put Apple in bankruptcy. So they bought Jobs new company NeXT in order to get him back. He went on to save Apple.
“Stealing” this talent is costing OpenAI a lot of money. Investors will be expecting a return on that investment, whether it’s money, power, or future favors. Also consider: just because OpenAI is accumulating resources doesn’t mean they know how to utilize them. An over abundance of money and talent is not a guarantee of success, but an indicator of excess.
Everyone forgets the era where the market expected Apple to invest deeply in search engines, and Apple was panned for not making a competing Google or Bing alternative. Only later we found out that Google was paying Apple for the privilege of being the primary search engine (billions per year).
The writing has been on the wall for over a year - Apple will not be able to create an AI service that meets or exceeds the quality of entrenched competitors. Why not play the game shrewdly - let OpenAI dump tons of money into “stealing” your “talent” while you simultaneously renew the relationship with Google. Heck, it’s probably super obvious to those teams which is why they are leaving of their own accord. Apple will weather a bad news cycle of “not being innovative”, continue that relationship with Google and at the same time focus on tapping a new CEO who has an appetite for risk and fresh eyes for hardware innovation.
While OpenAI is spending like they just got daddy’s credit card, Apple is playing the long-game here.
Everyone forgets the era where the market expected Apple to invest deeply in search engines, and Apple was panned for not making a competing Google or Bing alternative. Only later we found out that Google was paying Apple for the privilege of being the primary search engine (billions per year).
The writing has been on the wall for over a year - Apple will not be able to create an AI service that meets or exceeds the quality of entrenched competitors. Why not play the game shrewdly - let OpenAI dump tons of money into “stealing” your “talent” while you simultaneously renew the relationship with Google. Heck, it’s probably super obvious to those teams which is why they are leaving of their own accord. Apple will weather a bad news cycle of “not being innovative”, continue that relationship with Google and at the same time focus on tapping a new CEO who has an appetite for risk and fresh eyes for hardware innovation.
While OpenAI is spending like they just got daddy’s credit card, Apple is playing the long-game here.
Thank you for remembering the “brain drain” of Apples chip team that was being reported on a few years ago that amounted to nothing.
And that's the trouble, Apple tries to fill itself with technological pioneers who are focussed on the next cutting-edge thing, but as a company they're in maintenance mode so those type of people aren't going to stick around.
I will tell you now. Tim will say just: “it is the best voice assistant Apple ever made!”
While I agree that OpenAI has no real financial path forward, I don't think that means Apple is playing the long game. They are clearly flailing in this sector, and it's blatantly obvious. They got caught with their pants around their ankles and are having a hard time changing direction.
AI is pushing people and companies to software and services first, and hardware second, or not at all. That doesn't fit Apple's structure. It's a platform-independent medium and that scares the crap out of them.
All that said, I don't care anything about AI and recoil at the thought of chatbots.
So is the internet.
Yet somehow they manage to keep selling hardware when most of what people do now can be done in any web browser.
Apple is in danger from nothing.
They don’t need to build chip fabs because they can hire TSMC (or whoever else is at the top). They don’t need to build display manufacturers because they can use Samsung, LG or others. They don’t need to develop their own search engine.
It’s the same with AI. If some company has a genuine breakthrough that beats all others in this space Apple can simply make a deal and license their technology.
It’s impossible for Apple to “lose” because they have options.