Reportedly, Apple has informed its employees that they have until the end of February to decide whether they will relocate.
Apple is shutting a 121-person team related to artificial intelligence operations in San Diego, leaving many employees at risk of termination, according to people familiar with the matter.
The group, known as Data Operations Annotations, was told Wednesday that they would be relocating to Austin to merge with the Texas portion of the same team, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been announced.
Apple told employees that they have until the end of February to decide if they will relocate, according to the people. If they don’t, the workers will be terminated on April 26.
The group, which also has offices in China, India, Ireland and Spain, is responsible for improving Siri by listening to queries to the voice service and determining if it heard and handled questions accurately. The announcement to close the San Diego group was made by Christine DeFilippo, a top deputy to Apple AI chief John Giannandrea, the people said.
An Apple spokeswoman confirmed the relocation decision, saying the company is bringing its “Data Operations Annotations teams in the US together at our campus in Austin, where a majority of the team is already based.” She added that “everyone currently employed will have the opportunity to continue their role with Apple in Austin.”
The company also said it’s “deeply committed to San Diego,” where it has “grown significantly,” and that it is continuing to hire as Apple expands its engineering teams. In other countries where the affected team operates, Apple keeps all the employees in one office.
For the San Diego staff, the move came as a surprise. The AI team had been working from an office that Apple is renting, according to the people. But the company had told staff recently that they would be relocated to a new Apple campus in the area at the end of January. Earlier this month, Apple distributed packing boxes to employees to prepare for a relocation within the city.
Instead, they’ll now have to move to Texas. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the majority of affected workers have indicated that they’re unwilling to relocate to Austin. Apple told employees that they could apply for other jobs, but some don’t think they’ll be eligible for many roles because they don’t have engineering backgrounds, the people said.
The San Diego employees focused on Siri use in Hebrew, English, and multiple dialects of Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and French.
The decision to disband the AI team in San Diego may lead to the departure of several dozen workers from Apple. The company, which had around 161,000 employees as of September, has generally avoided layoffs during the pandemic, unlike many of its tech counterparts. However, it did cut some corporate retail jobs in April, along with recruiting positions.
Employees willing to relocate to Austin by the end of June will retain their roles and are eligible for a $7,000 relocation stipend. Those choosing not to relocate will have their positions terminated and receive four weeks of severance, with an additional week for each year worked, along with six months of health insurance.
The AI team in San Diego has a significant history within Apple. Originally comprised mostly of contractors who monitored Siri queries for accuracy, privacy concerns led to changes in 2019. The contractors were replaced with full-time employees. Some employees from this team are now involved in Apple’s move toward AI products based on large language models (LLMs). They review potential Siri queries, select from a few answers, and provide explanations for their decisions. Apple is expected to announce its plans related to LLMs in June.