Apple Inc. is closing a 121-person team tied to artificial intelligence operations in San Diego, putting many employees at risk of layoffs, according to people familiar with the matter. The group, known as Data Operations Annotations, was informed Wednesday that it would move to Austin to merge with the Texas part of the same team, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans do not have not been announced.
Apple told employees they had until the end of February to decide whether they would move, according to the sources. If they fail to do so, the workers will be fired 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 whether it heard and responded to the questions accurately. The announcement of the San Diego group’s closure was made by Christine DeFilippo, a top deputy to Apple’s AI chief John Giannandrea, the sources said.
An Apple spokeswoman confirmed the relocation decision, saying the company would bring its “U.S. data operations annotation teams to our Austin campus, where the majority of the team is already based”. She added that “anyone currently employed will have the opportunity to continue their role at Apple in Austin.”
The company also said it is “deeply committed to San Diego,” where it has “experienced significant growth” and continues to hire as Apple expands its engineering teams. In other countries where the affected team operates, Apple keeps all employees in one office.
For the San Diego staff, this decision came as a surprise. The AI team worked out of an office that Apple rented, according to the sources. But the company had recently told its staff that they would be moving to a new Apple campus in the area at the end of January. Earlier this month, Apple distributed packing boxes to employees preparing for a move to the city.
Instead, they will now have to move to Texas. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the majority of affected workers have indicated they do not want to move to Austin. Apple has told employees they can apply for other jobs, but some don’t think they will be eligible for many positions because they don’t have an engineering background, the sources said.
San Diego employees focused on using Siri in Hebrew, English, several Spanish dialects, Portuguese, Arabic and French.
This decision could lead to the departure of several dozen workers from the company. Apple, which had 161,000 employees as of September, has mostly managed to avoid layoffs since the pandemic, unlike most of its tech peers. However, it cut some retail jobs last April, as well as among recruiters.
Employees who want to move to Austin by the end of June will be able to keep their jobs, Apple said. The company offers moving benefits of $7,000. Those who choose to leave Apple will have their positions eliminated and receive four weeks of severance pay, plus an additional week for each year worked. They will also benefit from six months of health insurance.
The team has a notable history within Apple. Years ago, the group consisted primarily of entrepreneurs who listened to Siri’s queries to ensure they were accurate. This practice raised privacy concerns and was made optional for clients in 2019. Contractors ended up being laid off and replaced with full-time employees.
A small number of the group’s employees have begun helping Apple migrate to AI products based on large language models, or LLMs. These employees now review potential queries to Siri and choose from a handful of responses. They must then explain their decision. Apple plans to announce its LLM plans in June, Bloomberg News reported.
