Apple Stock Down Over 12% This Year — Now Tim Cook Is Reportedly Betting On Vision Pro's Mike Rockwell To Fix Siri After Losing Confidence In AI Boss John Giannandrea

Apple Inc. AAPL has been facing mounting pressure from investors and competitors. On Thursday, CEO Tim Cook reportedly reshuffled its AI leadership to revive the struggling Siri assistant and catch up in the generative AI race.

What Happened: Apple has moved Mike Rockwell — the executive behind the Vision Pro headset — into a new leadership role overseeing Siri, pulling the virtual assistant out from under AI chief John Giannandrea's control, reported Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. 

Rockwell will now report to Craig Federighi, Apple's senior VP of software engineering, while Giannandrea retains oversight of other AI research initiatives.

See Also: Apple’s New Passwords App Left Users Exposed To Phishing Attacks For Months Due To Serious HTTP Flaw

The shift follows months of delays and missed deadlines for Apple Intelligence. Internally, Apple managers described the situation as ugly, with developers uncertain about when key features will ship.

These setbacks reportedly caused Cook to lose confidence in Giannandrea's ability to execute.

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Why It's Important: The leadership shake-up signals Apple's new direction to turn around its AI performance, especially as rivals like Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google, Microsoft Corporation MSFT, and OpenAI surge ahead.

Apple’s AI missteps coincide with a 12.20% year-to-date stock decline as the company navigates broader market challenges.

Last week, Morgan Stanley flagged concerns about Apple’s AI delay, lowering its price target from $275 to $252.

Price Action: Apple shares closed Thursday at $214.10, declining 0.53% during the regular session. In after-hours trading, it dropped an addition of 0.19%, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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