Apple is restructuring its operations by closing its San Diego team responsible for Siri’s voice command improvements. The 121 employees from this team are now moving to Austin, Texas, where they will integrate with the existing branch of the ‘Data Operations Annotations Teams’.
This move aligns with Apple’s strategy to consolidate its efforts and resources in the field of artificial intelligence in Austin.
The team in San Diego, initially made up of contractors listening to Siri queries, became full-time employees in 2019 when listening to Siri became optional for users. They worked on multiple languages, including Hebrew, English, various Spanish dialects, Portuguese, Arabic and French. The news about the team moving was confirmed by a top deputy to John Giannandrea, AI chief, Apple, as reported by Bloomberg.
Employees in San Diego must decide by the end of February whether to relocate. If they choose not to move, they could lose their jobs by 26 April.
Many workers affected by the move to Austin are hesitant to relocate, mainly due to concerns about not having engineering backgrounds. Apple has told them they can apply for other jobs, but details about future opportunities are unclear.
The company is offering a $7,000 stipend to those moving to Austin by the end of June. If they decline, their jobs will be cut, and they’ll get severance pay based on their time at the company, along with six months of health insurance. While Apple largely avoided layoffs during the pandemic, this decision about the AI team could result in some employees leaving the company.
