• By Alex David
  • Tue, 08 Jul 2025 01:22 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

In a sign of an escalating fight for AI experts, Meta has Apple’s senior director for AFM models, Ruoming Pang, on leave. This shift marks one of the most significant departures from Apple’s AI division in recent years and comes at a crucial time as the company pushes ahead with Apple Intelligence and other generative AI features.

As Bloomberg reports, in Meta’s bid towards AI leadership, he was previously paying tens of millions to Pang, which heavily underlined Meta’s aggressive pursuit for AI experts.

Who Is Ruoming Pang?

Pang has played a vital role with his Apple position, where he:

 

  • Managed a workforce of nearly 100 engineers
  • Created LLMs for Apple
  • Managed the AI systems supporting Apple Intelligence and future Siri models

 

With Apple investing robustly in their infrastructure to compete with OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Meta AI, his absence might result in a lot of losses to that edge.

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What This Means for Apple’s AI Roadmap

The effects of Pang’s lack are already being felt in Apple’s AI group.

 

  • It has been reported that some engineers seem to have made up their minds to follow Pang and leave the AFM team.
  • Apple has hired Zhifeng Chen to the head of the AFM group in a newly reorganized management structure.  

 

The supervisional responsibilities of the broader AI strategy now fall under:  

 

  • Craig Federighi, SVP of Software Engineering
  • Mike Rockwell, who was instrumental in the Apple Vision Pro and is currently leading the Siri engineering team  

 

As Apple tries to stabilize its AI initiatives and retain what’s left of top-tier talent, the shift could cause friction or delays.

Meta’s Growing AI Powerhouse

Joining Meta’s AI team is Ruoming Pang, who joins a roster that includes:

 

  • Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI
  • Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO
  • And researchers from OpenAI and Anthropic

 

With unmatched industry talent, Meta is aggressively building one of the strongest AI talent pools, reportedly offering multi-million dollar compensation packages far beyond what Apple provides. The company is racing to dominate the foundational model space with its LLaMA series, AI-driven avatars, and integrated AI in platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

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Talent War Heating Up in AI

This high-profile exit signals a broader trend in the AI sector:  

 

  • Big Tech companies are fighting over a small number of top-tier AI researchers.
  • Talent acquisition is becoming as critical as creating cutting-edge products in determining sustained leadership.

 

Meta’s future vision of AI also calls for heavy investment in talent, as it is prepared to pay tens of millions of dollars for a single hire.

Final Thoughts

Ruoming Pang’s switch from Apple to Meta is more than simply a job move that comes with a big salary; it illustrates the shifting dynamics of the AI struggle. With the perpetual evolution of AI in the consumerism space, the ability to manage foundational model talent has become a critical area of conflict. From a strategic point of view, Apple is losing its ability to retain leadership in AI after the departure of such an influential executive. On the other hand, Meta strengthens its position as an emerging leader in the generative AI competition.