Apple just took a major step to improve AI capabilities on its devices .
The company has hired Google's top AI manager, John Giannandrea, to lead Apple's artificial intelligence division, the New York Times reports.
It's unclear what specific projects the Google veteran will be tasked with, but it's safe to say that Siri will play a central role in the company's future AI strategy.
Critics have long argued that Apple has lagged far behind its competitors in terms of the AI capabilities of its devices, and that this is made more apparent by Siri's limited capabilities: Although Apple's digital assistant has gradually improved, it is still less advanced than the digital assistants from Google and Amazon.
For example, while Google Assistant and Alexa have thousands of third-party integrations, Apple still only allows specific types of app integrations for Siri.
Apple's Siri-powered HomePod smart speaker has also been widely criticized for its digital assistant. (Reports from last month said Apple wasn't originally planning to put Siri on its smart speaker until after Amazon launched the first Echo.)
But with Giannandrea at the helm, Apple could finally make a fresh start in the AI field and become competitive.
Giannandrea will report directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook. In a letter to employees, Cook said that “John embraces our commitment to privacy and our thoughtful approach to making our computers smarter and more secure,” the Times reported.
Google Brain co-founder Jeff Dean will now take over Giannandrea's former position and lead Google's AI division.
