Apple Inc. is restructuring its artificial intelligence operations, leading to the closure of its 121-person Data Operations Annotations team in San Diego. Employees were informed that they would need to relocate to Austin, Texas, to merge with a similar team already based there. They have until the end of February to decide, with termination effective April 26 for those who choose not to move.
This team, which has global offices and works on improving Siri, was unexpectedly notified of the relocation, having initially been prepared to move to a new local Apple campus. A significant number of the San Diego team
seem reluctant to relocate to Austin. Apple has offered to assist employees in finding other roles within the company, though there are concerns about the eligibility for non-engineering positions.
Affected employees, who worked on Siri in various languages, are being offered a $7,000 relocation stipend and those not relocating will receive severance and health insurance benefits. This move is part of Apple's broader efforts in AI and includes a shift towards large language model-based AI products, with announcements expected in June.
