The absence of John Giannandrea, Apple's head of artificial intelligence, from the recent WWDC25 global developer conference has sparked widespread speculation about his future with the company. According to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, Giannandrea appears to be gradually stepping back from Apple's core management, with the possibility of leaving the company in the near future.

Giannandrea, who joined Apple in 2018, was once a highly anticipated addition to the team. With a wealth of experience as the former head of Google's search and AI department, he was expected to bring significant value to Apple. However, despite his strong technical background, his performance at Apple has not met expectations. Giannandrea has struggled to integrate into Apple's corporate culture and has had significant disagreements with the company's leadership on AI philosophy, leading to his recent demotion.

This year's WWDC25 was a stark contrast to WWDC24, where Giannandrea was actively engaging with the media and delivering speeches. In this year's event, not only was Giannandrea absent, but Apple's overall stance on AI seemed unusually cautious. Craig Federighi, Apple's software chief, only mentioned in his speech that "Apple intelligence needs more time to be polished," shifting the focus of the conference to the new visual style and system updates of iOS26.

Gurman's analysis suggests that Giannandrea's power within Apple has been diminished, and the company may no longer trust him. As artificial intelligence technology becomes increasingly important in market competition, this change raises questions about Apple's future AI development. While Apple has been working hard to enhance its AI capabilities and applications, the internal turmoil among senior management may affect future progress, which remains to be seen.

Apple is facing the challenge of how to better integrate AI technology with its products, and Giannandrea's absence could further complicate this process. The industry will continue to closely monitor Apple's future plans in the field of artificial intelligence.