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Apple is planning to shutter a 121-person AI team currently located in San Diego in favor of consolidating the group in the company’s Austin, Texas, office.
The Data Operations Annotations group was reportedly told Wednesday that their group would be relocating to Austin in order to merge with the Texas-based members of the team. California employees have been given until the end of February to decide if they would like to relocate to Texas. Those who decide to not relocate will be terminated from the company on April 26, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
The group is tasked with listening to queries made to Siri and determining if the virtual assistant heard and answered the questions correctly. The group also has offices in China, Ireland, Spain, and India.
The AI team has been working from a rented office space in San Diego; however, the group had been under the impression the plan was to relocate the employees to a new Apple campus in the area at the end of the month.
Many employees have reportedly said they are unwilling to make the move to Texas. Those who do choose to move will have until the end of June to officially transition to the new location. Those employees will receive a $7,000 relocation stipend.
Employees who choose to not move to Texas will receive 4 weeks of severance as well as an additional week for each year they’ve worked for the company. They will also receive six months of health insurance.
Apple is rumored to be planning to include some form of AI on the iPhone in late 2024. The company has acquired several AI companies in recent years to build its own AI product.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has said the company plans to take a slow, “thoughtful” approach to creating AI products.