Apple to relocate San Diego Siri AI team to Austin

Apple may shut down its San Diego base for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and relocate its employees to Austin to work as one team.

The move reported by Bloomberg reveals that the San Diego AI team consists of 121 Apple employees and these are instructed to relocate to Austin to work collectively with an existing AI team.

These employees are responsible for improving Siri by listening to queries to the voice service and confirming the accuracy of the queries.

These 121 Apple employees need to file their decision by the end of February 2024. The reply must include whether the employee wants to relocate or refuse.

People who won’t relocate will be terminated on April 26, 2024. This new announcement is coming from Apple AI Chief John Giannandrea.

Further information suggests that Apple had been renting the San Diego office for a while. However, the company already decided to relocate to a new Apple campus in the area at the end of January.

Moreover, Apple distributed packaging boxes to employees to depart for a new location. But the company changed plans to take all staff back to Texas.

Sources in the report mentioned that the majority of these employees may not relocate. Yet, Apple has announced that these employees will retain their jobs at the new location or allow to employment for other jobs.

Meanwhile, the employees in this matter have limited talent as they are only working on a specific part of Apple’s voice assistant.

Employees who will Apple will get $7,000 relocation stipends. Those who choose to resign will get four weeks of severance and one more week for every year worked. This deal also includes six months of health insurance.