AI talent war intensifies as another Apple executive jumps to Meta

By Reuters October 16, 2025 | 12:39 am PT

An Apple logo is seen at the entrance of an Apple Store in downtown Brussels, Belgium, March 10, 2016. Photo by Reuters

Ke Yang, Apple's newly tapped executive leading an effort to develop a ChatGPT-like AI-driven web search, is leaving the firm for Meta, Bloomberg reported.

Just weeks ago, Yang was appointed head of a team called Answers, Knowledge and Information, or AKI, which is central to the Siri voice assistant's overhaul, planned for March, the Wednesday report said, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Yang has been with Apple since 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Meta has intensified Silicon Valley's talent war through aggressive hiring aiming to challenge rivals, including OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, as the tech firms pour significant investment into AI in the race to superintelligence.

The Mark Zuckerberg-led company had poached top AI executives from the iPhone maker before, including Robby Walker and Ruoming Pang, as earlier reported by Bloomberg.