Apple Combines Siri Teams in San Diego and Austin, Employees Face Tough Choices, US

Apple is reportedly planning to merge its Siri quality control team based in San Diego with the team in Austin, Texas, according to a report from Bloomberg. With 121 employees in San Diego, those who choose not to relocate may be let go by April 26. Apple has confirmed that the team will have the opportunity to continue their role with the company in Austin and has encouraged employees to apply for other positions within Apple. However, some employees are uncertain about their qualifications for other roles and have expressed little intention to move. To incentivize relocation, Apple will provide $7,000 stipends to those who wish to move. For employees who do not relocate, the company plans to offer four weeks of severance pay, an additional week’s worth of pay for each year worked, and six months of health insurance. The San Diego team is responsible for listening to Siri recordings in multiple languages, including Hebrew, English, Spanish, and Arabic. As Apple continues to develop its artificial intelligence capabilities, the company has recently released frameworks and libraries to support AI development on code repositories. Apple is also working on optimizing large language models for use on its iPhones.