Apple Relocates AI Team from San Diego to Austin, Leaving Employees at Risk of Termination
Tech giant Apple is shutting down its 121-person data operations annotations team in San Diego that is responsible for improving its virtual assistant, Siri. The team will be relocated to Austin, Texas to merge with the existing Texas-based team. However, this move leaves the current San Diego employees at risk of termination if they choose not to relocate by the end of February.
The relocation decision was confirmed by an Apple spokesperson, who stated that the company is bringing its data operations annotations teams together at its campus in Austin. The spokesperson also mentioned that all current employees will have the opportunity to continue their roles with Apple in Austin.
But for many employees, the news of the move came as a surprise. The AI team in San Diego had been working from a rented office and were initially informed that they would be moving to a new Apple campus in the area at the end of January. Instead, they will now have to relocate to Texas, which has caused some uncertainty and concerns among the affected workers.
According to Bloomberg, the majority of the affected employees have indicated that they are unwilling to relocate to Austin. Although Apple informed them that they could apply for other jobs within the company, some employees feel they may not be eligible for many roles due to their lack of engineering backgrounds.
The San Diego employees primarily focused on Siri use in multiple languages, including Hebrew, English, dialects of Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, and French. This change has the potential to result in several dozen workers leaving the company. While Apple has mostly avoided layoffs during the pandemic, unlike many of its tech competitors, the relocation of this team marks a significant change in its workforce structure.
For employees who choose to relocate to Austin by the end of June, they will be able to retain their roles at Apple and will receive a relocation stipend of $7,000. However, those who decide to leave the company will have their positions eliminated and will receive four weeks of severance pay, with an additional week added for each year worked. They will also receive six months of health insurance coverage.
The relocated team has a notable history within Apple, having previously consisted mostly of contractors who listened to Siri queries to ensure accuracy. However, this practice was made optional for customers in 2019 due to privacy concerns. As a result, the contractors were replaced by full-time employees.
A small number of employees from the team in San Diego have already begun assisting Apple with the development of artificial intelligence products using large language models. These employees are reviewing potential queries to Siri and selecting the most appropriate answers, while also providing explanations for their decisions. Apple is planning to announce its large language model plans in June.
Despite this relocation, Apple stated that it is deeply committed to San Diego and will continue to grow significantly in the area. The company will also continue to hire as it expands its engineering teams. In other countries where the affected team operates, Apple has chosen to consolidate all employees in one office, while this move sees a dispersal of the team from San Diego to Austin.
This relocation decision raises questions about the impact on the affected employees and the consequences it could have for Apple’s ongoing AI development. It remains to be seen how many employees will choose to relocate and continue their roles with the company. As the deadline for relocation approaches, the future of this team and their contribution to Siri’s improvement hangs in the balance.
