In a surprising development, Apple has decided to shut down its Data Operations Annotations team, consisting of 121 employees in San Diego, responsible for advancing the company’s artificial intelligence operations.
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The team, which primarily worked on enhancing Siri through voice service queries, has been instructed to relocate to Austin and merge with the Texas branch of the same team.
Originally comprised of contractors who listened to Siri queries, the team transitioned to full-time employees in 2019 after the listening practice became optional for customers. The focus of the San Diego group extended to multiple languages, including Hebrew, English, various Spanish dialects, Portuguese, Arabic, and French. The relocation announcement was made by a top deputy to Apple’s AI chief, John Giannandrea, according to reports from Bloomberg, which Apple later confirmed.
An Apple spokeswoman explained that the decision aims to consolidate its “Data Operations Annotations teams in the US together at our campus in Austin, where a majority of the team is already based.” She assured that all current employees would have the opportunity to continue their roles with Apple in Austin. However, the catch is that employees in San Diego must decide by the end of February whether to relocate, with those opting against it facing termination on April 26.
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Despite Apple expressing commitment to San Diego, where the company has witnessed substantial growth, the consolidation of the AI team in Austin caught many employees off guard. Earlier indications suggested they would be relocated to a new Apple campus in the region by the end of January, but instead, they now face a move to Texas.
A significant number of affected workers have voiced their reluctance to relocate to Austin, with concerns about eligibility for roles due to a lack of engineering backgrounds. Apple has informed employees about the option to apply for other positions, but specifics about future employment prospects remain elusive.
To ease the transition, Apple is offering a $7,000 relocation stipend to employees who choose to move to Austin by the end of June. Those declining the offer will see their roles eliminated, receiving severance pay based on their length of service and six months of health insurance.While other tech companies grappled with layoffs during the pandemic, Apple had largely avoided them until now.
Some corporate retail jobs and recruiters were cut last April, but the recent decision regarding the AI team could potentially lead to the departure of some employees from the tech giant.
