[Young journalist Choi Jion] Apple’s decision to adopt Google’s large language model (LLM) “Gemini” instead of its own in-house artificial intelligence (AI) model was reportedly led by Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi. 

According to the U.S. IT-focused media outlet The Information, reported on January 22 (local time), Vice President Federighi instructed Apple to begin evaluating external AI models early last year after receiving reports on the voice assistant Siri. 

This directive dealt a fatal blow to Apple’s foundation model development team. As a result, many key members of the team, including team leader Luo Ming-fang, left Apple in July and moved to Meta. 

Fedrighi, who oversees software including operating systems (OS), is the most publicly recognizable Apple executive after CEO Tim Cook . 

He is well known for his energetic presentations filled with humor and action-movie-style performances at Apple events such as the  Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) and new product  launches. 

However, in his actual work, he is known to take a very conservative and cautious approach to his duties. 

For example, after reviewing a proposal from the development team to use AI to modify the iPhone’s home screen, he rejected the idea due to concerns about potential users’ confusion. 

He is also reportedly negative toward the view that Apple should offer salaries higher than those of top executives in order to recruit  outstanding AI talent amid intense competition. 

In addition, The Information reported that concerns are growing among AI-related staff that Federighi’s restrictions on business travel could reduce opportunities to attend industry conferences. 

As a result, Apple's cautious approach to AI, which it has maintained so far, is expected to continue. 

However, separate from adopting the Gemini model, Apple is likely to continue developing “on-device AI” models that run directly on Apple devices.

Apple has faced criticism for being an “AI latecomer,” as companies such as Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft (MS) have poured massive budgets into AI development while Apple kept its AI spending limited. 

Apple also replaced its AI chief, John Giannadrea, early last year as AI features such as “Apple Intelligence” and Siri, announced in 2024, failed to meet market  expectations or were delayed. 

On January 12, Apple officially announced that it had adopted Google’s Gemini as the foundation model for its AI system. 

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